


we were both young when i first saw you

by WishingTree



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Childhood Friends AU, F/F, Gen, like i mean they're teenagers but still
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2018-06-01 21:00:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6536089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lucy's dad moved her to the small town of Midvale, right on the edge of Hicksville, USA, the last thing she expected was to meet someone like Kara Danvers.</p><p>AU in which Lucy becomes a part of Kara's chosen family much earlier</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Midvale - 10 Years Ago

**Author's Note:**

> What the hell is this. What the hell happened. I don't even know.
> 
> So I saw a gifset of Kara and Lucy literally just standing next to each other tagged 'my kids' and then my brain went 'hah them as children' and somehow that sent this spiralling.
> 
> I’d say it’s been about two years since Kara came to live with the Danvers, and Alex has accepted Kara wholeheartedly.  
> The flashback takes place roughly over two years, so the ages at the beginning of the chapter and at the end are:  
> Kara 14 --> 16  
> Lucy 15 --> 17  
> Alex 16 --> 18
> 
> Featuring scowling teenaged Lucy who isn’t taken seriously at home and just wants people to care about her

Lucy stared at the door to her new school’s main office moodily, crossing her arms and scuffing her shoe across the floor. Her dad had dropped her off with strict instructions to behave and rushed off to meet some military contact of his, and she was waiting alone, almost two hours early.

At least Lois had sent her a good luck text. It was one of the only times she’d heard from her sister since Lois had moved out on her own, and Lucy was surprised by how much she missed her. Even though Lois had always made it a point to spend her time away from Lucy, it was comforting to have her lingering around with every new move. They had never been close, but Lois had never straight up left her alone, always hovering on the outskirts if Lucy really needed her. Not having her around this time didn’t make it any easier.

Lucy had wandered the halls a little bit before opting to stand in the hall outside the office, preferring to lean against the wall than sit in the office and make awkward conversation with the secretary.

The silence was broken by a girl coming down the hallway, her footsteps so light it almost seemed deliberate. All Lucy could see from this distance was soft blonde hair, and she wondered why this girl was so early for school. In the 20 minutes she’d been standing here, the only other people she'd seen had been a janitor and a handful of frazzled-looking teachers.

The girl kept approaching, slowing to a stop when she was several paces away from Lucy. Lucy watched her out of the corner of her eye, wondering how much social interaction would be appropriate since they were the only ones here.

She was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, and an oversized hoodie with some sort of sports logo on it. The name _Danvers_ was stitched on the sleeve, and she was clutching the straps of a heavy looking backpack. She eyed the door to the office for a moment before turning to Lucy.

“My name’s Kara,” she introduced herself quietly, adjusting her glasses awkwardly and shooting her a hesitant smile. “Are you waiting for the guidance counselor too?”

For a split second, Lucy considered ignoring her, really not in the mood to play the new girl game so early in the morning. But she quickly shook herself out of it, knowing that no matter how tired she was of changing schools and houses and cities, she couldn’t take it out on this sweet girl who had decided to talk to her.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I just moved here, it’s my first day. I’m waiting to see the principal.”

Kara nodded seriously and shifted on her toes, eyes wide as if she was learning some great secret. “Oh, welcome to Midvale!”

Lucy absently noted that this Kara seemed incapable of holding still. She was constantly shifting on her feet, moving her fingers, fidgeting with her backpack straps or her glasses.

“Do – do you like it so far?”

“I’ve only been here for like 3 days, how am I supposed to know?” Lucy muttered under her breath. She didn’t mean to say it loud enough for Kara to hear it, but the other girl was nodding in understanding.

“I know, but that’s what everyone kept asking me when I first got here, so I figured I should try it in case there was some reason for it I had missed.”

“You were new too?” Lucy asked, surprised. From what she had seen, Midvale seemed like the kind of place where you were stuck with the same bunch of people from birth until you graduated and moved away.

Kara bobbed her head again, “I moved here two years ago. I’m basically still the new girl though. Everyone else has lived here their whole life.” She hesitated again, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Lucy Lane?” They both turned to see a smartly dressed woman standing by the door. Lucy wouldn’t have been surprised to find out she was ex-military with the way she was standing and the strict look on her face.

“Hi Mrs. Thompson,” Kara piped up, giving her a small wave.

Mrs. Thompson smiled at her, instantly softening. “Good morning girls. Lucy, if you would step into my office? We’ll cover all the information you need in time to be in homeroom by the bell.” She motioned her inside and Lucy nodded, turning to follow her and giving Kara a smile that she returned.

Inside the office, they went through the standard description of what was expected of her, who she could contact if she ever needed any help, the school rules. Lucy knew the drill, nodding along where it was appropriate.

When her spiel was done, Mrs. Thompson frowned and rested her elbows on her desk. “Now, I had planned to show you around myself, but unfortunately I have to go deal with a representative from the school board. Would you mind if I assigned another student to guide you around for the day?”

Lucy shook her head, figuring that she could just find her own way around the school. It wasn’t as big as her last one had been, and she had a fairly good sense of direction.

Mrs. Thompson handed her the slim folder with her schedule and information packet, along with some forms for her dad to sign before getting up and leading her to the door.

When they exited the principal’s office, Lucy was surprised to see Kara still there, chattering happily with one of the secretaries.

“Oh, Kara!” Mrs. Thompson sounded delighted. “Would you mind showing Lucy here around the school? It’s her first day, so just point her in the direction of her classes, the caf, the library, things like that?”

“Oh, I’d be happy to!” Kara agreed cheerfully, turning around to say goodbye to the secretary before coming to join Lucy. They both smiled as Mrs. Thompson wished her luck and strode off, and Lucy gestured awkwardly at the door for Kara to go first.

“You seem really… familiar, with the office. What’s the deal with that?”

“Oh, uh, me and – well, my sister would get in trouble a lot when I first got here, we spent a lot of time sitting in there. And I come see the guidance counselor every couple of weeks.” She adjusted her glasses and smiled brightly at Lucy, “So, where’s your first class?”

“Oh, uh, you don’t actually have to show me around, Kara, I don’t want to be any trouble.”

Kara snorted and shook her head, “Trust me, I really am happy to. First days suck when you don’t know anyone.”

“Tell me about it,” Lucy sighed. “I’ve definitely done that before.” It wasn’t that Lucy ever had trouble finding people to talk to, but it was exhausting making new friends and then keeping in touch when she inevitably moved away.

She saw Kara’s curious look and waved her hand, “Military brat. My dad’s moved us all over the place.” Dimly, Lucy wondered why she was sharing so much with a girl she’d just met. Kara had gotten more information out of her in 5 minutes than her last two schools combined.

Kara tilted her head, “Well, I don’t know all the other places you’ve lived, but this town’s not so bad once you give it a chance. The beach is really nice! And there's lots of stuff to see. There's a really good ice cream shop.” She was moving her fingers again, playing with the edge of her hoodie.

Lucy half-smiled at that, “Ice cream is always good.”

“Do you want me to show it to you sometime? Good way to start learning your way around.”

Lucy only sighed, curling her shoulders inward. “I’m probably going to move away again soon, there doesn’t seem to be much point,” Lucy said sullenly. Again, she had meant to say it much quieter than it seemed to have come out. Maybe it was time for her to start listening to Lois and stop muttering under her breath.

“Oh, okay,” Kara was quiet for a moment. “Do you want to be friends until then anyways?”

Lucy looked at her a little weirdly, wondering what kind of teenager still asked someone to be friends.

But Kara was staring at her earnestly, hope in her eyes and a smile on her face, and Lucy realized that maybe having her as a friend wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“Sure,” she said with a smile. “That’s really nice of you.”

Kara shrugged bashfully, and after a moment stuck out her hand. “Can I see your schedule? It’s going to get crowded soon, but we can probably find most of your classes before then.”

Lucy handed it over. “Thanks for this Kara, you really don’t have to.”

Kara shrugged again, looking over her schedule closely. “Ooh, you have Mrs. Reynolds! My sister told me that at the beginning of the year she always sets something on fire.”

Lucy looked taken aback for a moment, and then laughed, linking her arms with Kara. “Alright, lead the way then. Definitely don’t want to miss that. What other insider knowledge do you have up your sleeve?”

 

 

 

“I think I made a friend, Alex!” Kara came skipping into the room and threw herself onto the couch next to her sister. Alex automatically lifted an arm, letting Kara snuggle into her side.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! I mean I think so. I mean, I think it’s getting there, I only just met her. She’s new, so she doesn’t know anyone else either. That helps.” Kara took her glasses off, handing them to Alex so she could place them on the side table. “She seems really nice.”

Alex hummed, methodically running her fingers through Kara’s hair. “Still not fitting in with everyone else?”

Kara scrunched up her nose, pressing more firmly into Alex’s side. “They all think I’m weird.”

Alex knew that for all her desire to be friends with as many people as possible, Kara didn’t actually have very many. Alex thought that maybe the other kids were hesitant to hang around her, sensing the otherness that she hadn’t yet learned to properly hide. Added to the basic high school close-mindedness that branded strange behavior as either something to fear or something to mock, Kara could get lonely at school.

“That’s because they’re all idiots,” Alex told her reassuringly, pressing a kiss to the top of Kara’s head. “You’re definitely weird, but in the best possible way. Much better than them.”

The corner of Kara’s mouth curved upwards, and Alex figured that as long as she could still make her sister smile it would be okay.

“I don’t think that’s entirely accurate, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Are you still using the formal-talk at school?”

Kara rolled her eyes good-naturedly, “I’m not, don’t worry. I’m careful.”

Alex nodded and relaxed against the back of the couch. “Okay, so tell me about this new friend of yours.”

Kara brightened considerably at that, wriggling in place for a moment before settling back against Alex. “Her name’s Lucy, and she likes ice cream, and she's really pretty. She said she was a military brat, which I found out means…”

 

Almost every day, Kara had something new to say about Lucy, and by the end of the week, Alex was pretty sure Kara had made a best friend for life. Lucy came over for dinner, and when Eliza took to her instantly the Danvers family had another honorary member. 

 

 

 

Alex snickered, lifting her book higher to hide her face.

Lucy sighed, rounding on her instead of heading straight for the stairs to see Kara. “What is it now?” she asked flatly, staring at the older girl curled up on the couch.

“Your clothes,” Alex said, “You and Kara managed to color coordinate again. How does this keep happening?” She grinned teasingly, “Are you guys doing it on purpose or something?”

As if to prove her point, Kara came bounding down the stairs, evidently too impatient to wait for Lucy to come up since she’d heard the door open. She was indeed wearing a soft blue sweater, perfectly complimenting Lucy’s dark blue t-shirt and jeans.

Even though there was nothing embarrassing about it, Lucy still scowled at Alex, who only raised an eyebrow and giggled.

“Alex, stop making fun of Lucy,” Kara said as soon as she got a good look at them, going over to lace her fingers with Lucy’s.

“Who says I’m making fun of her?” Alex said, doing nothing to hide her smirk.

“Your face says.”

“Ah, well,” Alex shrugged and slid down the couch until she was lying on her back. “I’m the big sister. I gotta embarrass _somebody_ , where else am I supposed to get my fun?”

  

 

 

“Pass me that,” Kara said, making grabby hands at the last pack of Reese’s Pieces sitting on the coffee table.

“No way!” Lucy immediately jumped up and grabbed it, “You basically ate the rest of them, I deserve this one.”

“Lucy, come on!” Kara complained, frowning at her. “Please?”

“No.”

“Please? Pretty please? Can I have some of them?”

“I’m older than you,” Lucy pointed at her triumphantly, “That means I get the candy.” She turned to open it at a safer distance from Kara, who could move scary fast when she wanted to, but her plans were foiled when she ran right into Alex, who promptly plucked it from her fingers.

“But you’re still younger than me.” Alex smirked down at her, and Kara and Lucy adopted matching pouts.

“Only by like 3 months,” Lucy grumbled.

“Still younger.” Alex popped open the bag and started eating them, a smug look on her face.

When they both pouted up at her, Alex rolled her eyes and sighed, looking less pleased with herself. She dumped a few pieces into her hand before holding out the package, sighing, “Unfair with the puppy eyes tag team. Here, but you have to share.”

Kara jumped and snatched at it before Lucy could react, but Alex seemed to expect that and held the candy high above her head. Kara still reached for it, stretching onto her tiptoes and giggling as Alex just managed to keep it out of her grasp.

Though Alex was still the tallest, Kara was quickly gaining, leaving Lucy as the smallest of the three, and she pouted even harder as she looked up at them, knowing she’d need some kind of step stool to be even close.

“Okay, okay,” Alex gasped breathlessly, laughing as Kara basically latched onto her, legs wrapped around her waist. “Here, Lucy will share with you.” She quickly passed the bag off to Lucy, who brightened and stuck her tongue out at Kara.

“Thanks!” she took off at a sprint through the house, knowing Kara would catch her by the time she reached the kitchen. She was willing to share, but not without making her work for it.

 

 

 

“What do you think it feels like to fly?” Lucy asked, lying on the grass in the Danvers’ backyard and watching a plane disappear among the clouds.

There was a muffled yelp from the tree, and the sound of several branches cracking before Kara swung into view, hanging upside-down and covered in leaves. She was higher up than Lucy would have been comfortable with, but Kara had no problem with heights and had assured her multiple times that she wouldn’t hurt herself if she fell.

“You sure you’re okay up there?” Lucy squinted at her in concern, but Kara only grinned and waved her hand, long hair swinging free as she settled comfortably with her legs hooked around the lowest branch.

“I think it must be pretty awesome,” Kara said wistfully after they had both settled themselves again, “Flying.”

Lucy nodded in agreement, closing her eyes and trying to picture being able to soar through the sky, away from everything.

“Maybe we’ll be able to go someday.”

Lucy looked over at Kara again, wondering if maybe she’d been upside-down for too long with all the blood rushing to her head.

Kara saw her look and hurried to add, “With, like, jetpacks or something. They’ll probably be invented soon.”

Lucy shrugged and closed her eyes, relaxing in the sunlight. “That would be really cool.”

Kara pulled a neat flip and dropped lightly to the ground, brushing off her hands and coming to lie next to her. Together, they spent the rest of the afternoon pointing out different shapes in the clouds, the dull roar of the ocean in the distance.

 

 

 

“It looks like you’re playing the floor is lava game,” Lucy commented amusedly, craning her neck to the side so she could see Kara reaching for the TV remote on the armchair.

“What’s that?” Kara asked distractedly, her brow furrowed as she tried to grip the couch cushion behind her to stop from toppling off as she kept stretching her arm out.

Lucy blinked and sat up straight. “You’ve never played the floor is lava?”

“Nope.” Kara squeaked and waved her arm around as she started slipping, and Lucy grabbed her around the waist and hauled her up so she was properly on the couch again.

“Never?”

“No?” Kara said confusedly as she adjusted her glasses. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Lucy blinked again, and then a slow smile grew across her face.

 

(Half an hour later, Alex walked into the room, looked around, and walked right back out, yelling over her shoulder, “You’re both dead and I am not getting roped into cleaning up your mess!”

Kara and Lucy looked at each other from where they were sprawled on the floor, faces flushed from laughing.

“You don’t think we’re really dead, do you?” Kara whispered uncertainly.

“I don’t know. I mean, Eliza’s pretty cool, but the hole in the wall with the armchair sticking out of it doesn't look too good for us.”) 

 

 

 

“Don’t cause any trouble,” Alex told them as she picked up her sports bag, swinging it over her shoulder and waving her lacrosse stick at them. “If everything’s in one piece when I get back from practice I’ll let you guys pick which movie we watch during dinner."

“We’re not babies, Alex.” Lucy crossed her arms. “You can’t just bribe us to get us to behave the way you want us to."

Kara popped up at her side holding a plate loaded with at least half a dozen sandwiches. “That’s not true,” she said with her mouth full. “From what I’ve seen, bribery almost always works.”

“Did you make one of those for me?” Alex asked teasingly, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

Kara took a step back and curled around the plate. “No, these are mine. I can make you one if you really want?” she offered, and Alex rolled her eyes affectionately, knowing her sister was too kind for her own good.

Alex reached out and patted her head, laughing. “Just make sure not to eat all the ice cream, okay? Leave some so we can have it after dinner.”

Kara nodded happily and waved as Alex left.

“Is there any food left?” Lucy asked, glancing at Kara’s plate, moving to the kitchen with the intention of making a snack for herself.

“Want one of these?”

“What?” Lucy looked up, surprised to see Kara offering her one of her sandwiches. “But… you don’t share food.”

Kara only shrugged, unconcerned. “I’ll share with you, if you want some.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Lucy accepted a sandwich and grinned when Kara blushed and hurried into the living room.

 

 

 

Lucy stepped over the threshold into the Danvers home, and was almost immediately halted by Alex, blocking her way and urging her back out onto the porch.

“Alex? Wha – what’s going on?” Lucy stumbled, trying to catch her balance.

“Lucy, I – I’m sorry, this isn’t a good time.”

“What’s wrong?” Lucy didn’t think she had ever seen the older Danvers this distraught.

“Kara, she’s – it’s a bad day for her, it’s for the best if she’s left alone right now.”

Lucy’s first instinct was to fight to see her friend, but she could see the panic in Alex’s eyes and the stress lining her every movement. She knew Alex would do anything to help Kara, and if she said it was best for Lucy to leave then she was probably right.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just… be there for her later? She’s going to want her friend.” Alex ran her hand over her face distractedly. “She’s going to want you.”

“I – yeah. Whatever she wants.” Alex reached out and gave her a tight hug, and Lucy pressed her face into her shoulder. “Will you tell me when she’s okay?”

Alex nodded as they pulled apart, running her hand comfortingly up and down Lucy’s arm, “Of course.”

Lucy turned to go back to her own house, sparing one look up at the bedroom window.

 

Lucy was relieved when she got a text from Kara the next day inviting her to sleep over like they had originally planned. Kara seemed fine, if a little tired, and Lucy was happy to stay close to her.

After dinner, they wound up stargazing on the roof.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Kara finally spoke, surprising Lucy. She had assumed they weren’t going to mention that anything out of the ordinary had happened. Ignorance and avoidance was the way Lucy's experiences usually went.

“Kara, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I’m just glad you’re okay now.”

“It was – Eliza calls it sensory overload.” Kara blinked up at the sky, hands behind her head. “Sometimes, everything becomes way too much for me to handle, and the only way to get it all back under control is to just hide away.”

“It sounds scary,” Lucy said after a moment, and Kara bowed her head.

“Alex knows how to help now, and I've been learning how to make it easier, so it isn’t so bad anymore.”

“Let me know if I can help you with anything, okay? I mean it.”

Kara smiled and murmured her thanks, looking conflicted as she trained her gaze back on the sky. Lucy watched her for a moment before looking up as well. Her eyes traced the stars, squinting as she struggled to recognize constellations. She tried to remember the details of Kara’s exuberant descriptions, always having a harder time with it when Kara wasn’t tracing them out with her while she told the stories with such wonder.

Kara sat up suddenly, drawing Lucy out of her internal debate on whether she had correctly identified Cassiopeia, and Lucy looked over in surprise at the abrupt movement to see Kara drawing her knees to her chest and turning to face her. Usually when they came out on the roof, they’d stay lying down until they decided to go back inside or they fell asleep.

“Lucy, I want to tell you something.” Kara was playing with her sleeves, pulling them down over her hands and clenching them in her fists, a clear sign that she was nervous.

Lucy pushed herself up as well, crossing her legs, “Okay. What’s up?”

Kara gave a nervous laugh. “So – I’m not supposed to – this… I trust you, but the thing is, I’m not supposed to trust anyone with this. At all. Ever.”

What came out of her mouth next could only be described as gibberish, stuttering and stammering and confusion, followed by a long drawn-out indecisive noise that ended in silence. Lucy blinked in confusion, leaning forward.

“Should I start guessing?” she asked, putting a hand on Kara’s arm, and Kara only made the indecisive noise again.

“Okay,” Lucy considered her options for a moment. “Did you fail that physics assignment you were worried about?”

From Kara’s flustered reaction, it would seem like that was the least rational thing Lucy could have said. “What? No, it’s not – it’s bigger than that. Not school-related.”

“How big are we talking?”

“Like,” Kara swayed from side to side, “So big. Huge. Life-changing.”

Lucy tilted her head as she thought.

“Yer a wizard, Kara.”

Kara snorted. “I wish.”

“Ooh! You’re the long-lost princess of a small European principality, and you have to leave Midvale because you’ve finally been summoned to take control of the throne.”

Kara tapped her socked feet together. “Isn’t that just the plot of Princess Diaries?”

“Yeah, we watched it last week. So did I guess right?”

Kara shook her head, “No.”

“Okay. You’re an international jewel thief.”

“Nuh-uh.”

Lucy squinted. “You’re Carmen Sandiego in disguise.”

“Nope,” Kara giggled and poked her in the side.

“…Ninja assassin?”

“No!” Kara was finally laughing, and Lucy smiled, pleased with herself.

“I think I’m out of guesses.”

Kara looked at her searchingly, eyes flickering across her face, and Lucy waited patiently for her to work through her thoughts.

Looking up one more time, Kara took a deep breath and said, “I’m an alien.”

Lucy laughed, but when all Kara did was widen her eyes, she stopped and stared at her. “…You’re an alien.”

Kara gave a jerky nod, sweater sleeves still pulled down to cover her hands as she brought her fists up to partially hide her face.

“An alien?” Lucy tried again.

Kara kept nodding, and Lucy could tell she was starting to get frustrated with her lack of a reaction.

“Alien,” Lucy repeated dumbly, her mind still not working.

“Lucy, can you please say something else so I can decide whether or not I should start running?” Kara was going for a joking tone of voice, but her eyes were shining with barely contained panic.

“I mean… you don’t… look like an alien?” Lucy said faintly, and Kara exhaled, jumping to her feet in one swift motion.

“I am! Watch this.” And then, before Lucy could stop her, she spun around and walked right off the roof.

A scream was ripped from Lucy’s throat, and she was in the middle of scrambling closer to the edge when Kara’s head peeked back into view.

“I – what?” Lucy was breathing heavily, staring at Kara’s face level with hers. Kara was watching her hesitantly, and a quick glance down showed Lucy that, yes, Kara was floating. Levitating. Flying.

Kara was still waiting for a reaction, twisting her fingers together nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop so much… It’s been a little while since I flew.” She floated higher, eventually dropping back down so her feet were planted on the roof again.

Lucy stared at her for a moment before falling onto her back and covering her face with a groan.

“Lucy?”

“Do _not_ do that again, oh my god. Even if you do have alien superpowers.” Lucy took one hand off her face and pressed it against her chest, staring at Kara with wide eyes. “I realize that’s an effective way to jumpstart someone, but _hell_ , just slap me across the face next time, okay?”

“I would never!” Kara gasped, and she looked so distressed, Lucy instantly regretted the comment.

“Right, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She struggled to push herself up again, leaning back against her hands. “I just… need a second.”

Kara nodded again and she stayed standing at the edge of the roof, nervous in a way Lucy hadn’t seen since the beginning of the first school year.

“Hey,” Lucy said softly, beckoning her closer, “I’m sorry. That wasn’t the smoothest reaction.” Kara didn’t move, biting her lip, and Lucy tried to think of a way to reassure her. “You’re an alien. That’s cool.” There was silence for a few more moments. “So I guess when you said you moved to Midvale two years ago, it was really when you moved to Earth?”

Kara nodded jerkily, and Lucy hummed, fitting this new knowledge into her head. She was quiet as she processed, and Kara took a tentative step forward.

“Will you – will you keep my secret?” There was real fear in Kara’s voice, and Lucy looked at her with confusion, not understanding why Kara would be scared of her. “It’s not – it’s not safe for me, to expose my powers to the world.”

Lucy furrowed her brow. “Is that what this is about? You think I would expose you?”

“Well,” Kara said timidly, “I – I have to lie, to everyone. I don’t have a choice.” She shrugged helplessly, “It’s the only way I can… belong, here, on this planet, in this world.

“But I – I don’t want to lie to the people I trust.” Kara was getting increasingly more agitated, panic bleeding into her movements. “And – and I think – telling you, right now, may have been the most impulsive thing I’ve ever done.” Kara ran her hand through her hair, accidently bumping the frames of her glasses. She paused, and then took them off entirely. “Please don’t tell me it was a mistake?”

Lucy immediately pushed herself to her feet and rushed towards Kara, engulfing her in a hug. She heard Kara exhale shakily as she brought her own hands up to Lucy’s back, fingers clutching desperately at the back of her shirt.

“It wasn’t. God, no Kara, I would never do anything like expose you to danger.” She felt Kara sink deeper into the embrace. “I care about you, got it? You’re my best friend. So… you might have to explain this alien thing to me a bit more, but you’re stuck with me.”

“Thank you,” Kara whispered into her neck, and Lucy responded by squeezing her tighter.

“Who else knows?”

“Alex. Eliza.” Kara shrugged, “Superman.”

Lucy pulled back in surprise. “Wait, what?”

“He’s my cousin.”

“You’re family?” Lucy wracked her brain, trying to remember what she’d heard on the news. Her dad was always quick to shut out anything that had to do with ‘those alien invaders’. “Superman was – didn’t his planet…” Her heart sank like a stone, and she looked at Kara. “Your planet?”

Kara only smiled brokenly, looking down at her hands.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Lucy brought up one hand to cover her mouth, devastated at the thought of Kara living with this alone. Her hands fluttered uselessly over Kara’s shoulders, unsure how to offer her the comfort she so desperately wanted to give.

“Do you… want to talk about it? I’m sure it must be hard, not being able to talk to anyone about what happened to you.”

Kara looked surprised, and Lucy tugged her back towards the blankets they had laid out, figuring they should sit down. She managed to draw Kara down next to her, but Kara still fidgeted uncomfortably. “Um, well… it’s not really a happy story.”

Lucy tapped her fingers on Kara’s wrist, gently urging her to look at her. “If you want to tell it, I’m here for you.”

Kara bit her lip again, glancing at her before looking back at the stars.

“You really want to hear it?”

Lucy nodded quickly, “Anything you want to say.”

Kara kept staring up at the sky, and Lucy let her think, continuing to trace patterns on her wrist when Kara didn’t show any signs of discomfort at the contact.

Finally, Kara took a deep breath and started speaking. “My name is Kara Zor-El…”

They stayed outside curled up together on the roof until the early morning light started showing above the horizon. 

 

 

 

While Kara and Lucy sat side by side and did their homework, Alex wandered into the kitchen to poke through the fridge.

“Sup, nerds. Did you learn anything in school today?” Alex offered a carton of juice forward, silently asking if either of them wanted some. Kara held out her glass for a refill, while Lucy shook her head, tapping the glass of water already in front of her.

"You're a nerd," Lucy retorted as she kept working on her assignment, and Kara took her sister's invitation to launch into not only a summary of her lessons from the day, but also little tidbits she had learned about social interaction from spending time with her classmates.

As they were talking, Kara stuck her hand out over the kitchen table as if expecting a handshake.

Lucy was bewildered when Alex put the juice down and came over without question. She let Kara hold her hand and play with her fingers as she rambled on, squeezing back when she was finished.

“Alright, I’ll be upstairs,” she said, picking up her glass of juice and giving them a small smile before leaving.

“Why… do you do that?” Lucy asked hesitantly, confused by the interaction. When Kara looked at her questioningly, Lucy gestured between her and the door Alex had disappeared through. “Whenever you guys are home, you just…” she trailed off and wiggled her fingers towards Kara, unsure how to describe the touchy casual affection thing the Danvers sisters had going on.

“Oh,” Kara said in realization, unconsciously drawing her hands closer to her chest. “It’s like practice, I guess. With controlling my strength, it helps. When I first got here, I wouldn’t touch anything because I was scared of breaking it, but obviously I couldn’t do that forever if I wanted to blend in. Alex figured some practice would help. And it's nice. Comforting.”

“You can practice with me too. If you want,” Lucy offered, stretching her hand out, palm up. “If it’ll help you.”

Kara’s face lit up, and she happily accepted it, going so far as to loop her arm through Lucy’s before taking her hand.

 

 

 

“I thought naps were for babies,” Kara said as she watched Lucy get comfortable on the couch.

“They’re also for people who got 3 hours of sleep last night, so either get up here with me, Danvers, or leave me alone, because I’m tired.”

Lucy didn’t make any further movements, her eyes already closed, and Kara decided that she had been standing there staring at Lucy too long. She stepped towards the couch, carefully climbing over her so she could slot herself between Lucy and the back of the couch. There was some shifting, and Lucy didn’t bother to open her eyes until Kara accidently knocked her head against hers.

“Ow!”

Kara froze, terrified of hurting a very breakable human, but Lucy only grumbled and rubbed at her head as she squinted at Kara.

“Here, just – ” she pulled Kara’s arm across her body and pushed at her opposite shoulder so they could both fit comfortably on the couch she now realized was probably slightly too small. “Now you won’t be crushing me.” She wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulder, using her other hand to brush the strands of Kara’s hair out of the way.

Kara was lying more on top of her than not, but once she relaxed it was a comforting weight pressing her down into the cushions. Lucy closed her eyes again, sighing contently, and Kara listened as her breathing deepened and smoothed out.

Even though Kara usually had a hard time sleeping while the sun was still out, her limbs started to grow heavy and Kara hummed happily, thinking that she should start taking naps more often if they were really this comfortable. Lucy’s heartbeat was slow but steady under her ear, a sure indicator that the other girl was practically asleep, and Kara instinctively pushed herself closer.

“You smell good,” Kara mumbled distractedly as she nudged her nose against the crook of Lucy’s neck, her eyes drooping closed.

 

 

 

Face pale and legs shaking, Lucy almost collapsed in relief when the Danvers home finally came into view. The memory of her dad’s voice, twisted in anger and hatred instead of colored with its usual indifference, would not stop echoing through Lucy’s head, and all she wanted was to see somebody who cared right now.

“You doing okay?” Alex called to her from where she was sitting on the front porch swing. Lucy stumbled across the lawn, wondering how she had managed to run all the way here from her house without tripping and falling.

“What’s wrong? Do you need me to fight somebody? I’ll fight somebody if I have to.” Alex’s tone was light, but Lucy knew she was being dead serious. On any other day, Lucy would have laughed, but strangely enough, all she could remember now was how much trouble Alex would get into if she got caught fighting again.

“Lucy?” Alex’s brow was creased with concern as she set her book aside and stood up. Something flickered across her face, and then she planted her hands on the porch railing and swung her legs over, landing on the grass and hastily moving to Lucy’s side.

Lucy didn’t know what she looked like that instantly made Alex so worried about her, but she figured it couldn’t be good.

“Lucy, you’re shaking,” Alex said measuredly, reaching out for her hands. “Lucy?”

Lucy opened her mouth but couldn’t decide where to start, her mind cycling too fast for her to work past the panic and put anything into proper words. She tried to focus on Alex’s steady presence instead.

“Kara,” Alex called out urgently, raising her voice, “Kara! You need to come home!” She leaned closer to Lucy, telling her, “Kara’s just down at the beach, she’ll be here in a second.”

Lucy clutched at her arms, gripping tightly. “She’s not safe, Alex. My dad… I mean, I knew he didn’t like aliens, but…” Sam Lane had always downright hated aliens, but Lucy had never thought he would do anything more than sneer at mentions on the news. She gazed at Alex fearfully, willing her to somehow understand.

Kara was suddenly standing at her side, though Lucy couldn’t say if she had missed her approach completely or if she had used her super speed. But she was standing next to her with concerned blue eyes and windswept blonde hair, and Lucy all but fell into her arms. Distantly, she realized she had tears in her eyes.

“Did your dad do something to you?” Kara asked dangerously, her embrace warm and comforting even as she stood rigid with restrained anger.

“He said… I heard him say things,” Lucy whispered against Kara’s collarbone. “Really terrible things, and…” she tried to control her harsh breathing, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt Kara’s arms tighten around her. “I’m _scared_ , Kara.”

Kara had her lips pressed against her hair, rocking her slightly, and Alex had a hand on her back.

“We won’t let him get to you,” Alex said furiously, tucking herself instinctively closer around the two of them.

Kara rubbed a hand up and down her back. “Can you tell us what happened, Lucy? Are you hurt?” All Lucy could do was shake her head.

“Okay, come on.” Alex hustled them both inside the house, and Kara’s arms stayed wrapped around Lucy the entire time.

Alex was saying something under her breath as they all moved up the stairs, but from the way Kara was nodding Lucy knew that she was talking to her. Once they reached the landing, the two sisters stared at each other, seemingly coming to an agreement.

Alex leaned closer to her, giving her a tight hug. “You’re safe here, Lucy,” she whispered fiercely, Kara nodding as she lead her towards their room.

But Lucy could only shake her head, because they didn’t _understand_. “No, no, it’s not me!”

She stopped walking and planted her feet, forcing them to stop from where they were urging her towards Kara’s bed. “My dad doesn’t care – I’m already the family disappointment, alright? I have been for a while. I’m not – ” she blew out a harsh breath, trying to figure out how to explain. “This isn’t about me.

“My dad’s looking for _Kara_. He’s looking for an alien hiding in Midvale. _That’s_ why we moved here.”

Kara and Alex both froze, and Lucy swallowed before continuing. “He was talking to somebody on the phone, and didn’t hear me come down the stairs. He said he’d heard rumblings in the military that the government was hiding a division that deals with aliens, and he got a tip about a spike in activity in Midvale a couple years ago. He thinks there’s an alien here, and if he catches it, it’ll win him the favor of a bunch of important senators or something.” Lucy felt sick just thinking about it, and chose not to mention how vicious he had sounded when he said what was planned for the captured aliens.

“I don’t understand,” Kara whispered brokenly.

“I think my dad is one of the guys you need to hide your identity from.”

“It’s okay,” Alex soothed, voice calm, “He doesn’t know anything or we would be in tons of trouble already.” Alex squeezed her shoulder, “We’ll deal with that later.”

She lifted the edge of the blanket, motioning for them to get into Kara’s bed. “I’m gonna go fill mom in, she needs to hear about this.” When Kara and Lucy maneuvered themselves under the blanket, Alex tucked them in securely, fussing with the blanket until she was satisfied.

Leaning over, she picked up the remote from Kara’s nightstand and turned on the small TV facing the bed. She flicked through the channels for a few moments before settling on a string of Kim Possible reruns. Leaving the remote on the covers, she kissed them both on the forehead and turned to leave the room, shutting the lights so the only illumination came from the television and the fading sunlight streaming through the window.

There was quiet, and Lucy stared blankly at the TV, watching Kim Possible struggling to make it to her school talent show. In terms of arguing with their father, Lois had always been the more vocal one, prompting numerous fights but still managing to retain the spot of golden child. Lucy had always been more likely to keep quiet, not wanting to get confrontational. And though she didn’t know any other aliens, if her father was gunning for Kara…

“I don’t like sharks,” Kara mentioned suddenly, keeping her arm wrapped tightly around Lucy. “Have I told you that before? Definitely would not be handling that situation well.” She was watching the cartoon shark charge at Kim Possible onscreen, and Lucy cracked a small smile at the obvious attempt to distract her.

“I think you can do anything, actually.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But I can do more if you’re here. You’re amazing, okay Lucy? You’re not a disappointment,” Kara wiped at her remaining tears with the corner of her sleeve, letting Lucy burrow under the blankets and rest her head on Kara’s shoulder. “You’re amazing, and your dad’s wrong not to see it.”

Lucy nodded to appease her, feeling exhaustion beginning to seep into her body as she let the calmness of the room wash over her.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kara whispered into her hair.

 

 

 

And for the next 6 months, everything was.

 

 

 

Lucy trudged up the walkway, head down as she approached the Danvers house. Kara greeted her with her usual smile as she entered the house, but it fell the instant she got a look at Lucy’s face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked hesitantly, reaching out to gently touch Lucy’s arm.

Lucy’s eyes stayed focused on one of the many picture frames lining the walls. Alex and Kara were standing next to each other making silly faces at the camera, and in the frame right beside it was a picture of Lucy, happily eating ice cream while Kara tried to do a handstand next to her. Lucy continued scanning the wall, spotting one from their Fourth of July picnic in the backyard, one of her and Kara at Alex’s lacrosse final. One of Alex and Kara arguing over the last slice of pizza while Lucy laughed at them. The realization that there were more pictures of her here in this house than there had ever been in her own left an ashen taste in her mouth.

“We’re moving again,” Lucy announced abruptly. “Across the country, just like before.” Lucy’s hands tightened into fists, pressing against her stomach.

Kara didn’t say anything, her mouth dropping open as she stared at her.

“Leaving next week, before the school year starts.” Lucy kept talking, not wanting to see the look on Kara’s face. “I guess… I just came to let you know. Start saying goodbye.”

“…Where are you going?”

“To Civic City.”

If possible, Kara deflated even farther. “Oh,” she said dejectedly, “That really is on the other side of the country.”

Lucy nodded stiffly, her jaw working. “I’m not 18 yet, so I couldn’t stay behind even if I wanted to.”

“You don’t want to stay?”

“No, no, I don’t mean it like that,” Lucy said helplessly, running a hand through her hair, “I just – how could I live on my own?”

Kara came closer and clutched at her jacket. “You could stay here, with us!”

Lucy smiled sadly, shaking her head, “Believe me when I say that there is nothing I want more. But all my money comes from my dad, and if I get into Harvard it’s going to take a bit more than my birthday money to pay for tuition.”

Kara was staring at her, clearly trying to think of something to say, but Lucy could see the defeat in her eyes. She reached out and put her hands on her arms.

“I can protect you this way, Kara. I stay close to him, and I’ll know if he’s about to make any moves against you or any other aliens that happen to show up. Make sure you’re off his radar.” Lucy tried to nod decisively, standing her tallest. “It’s the only thing I can do. There isn’t really another option.”

“And we can’t – can’t call, or talk to each other?”

Lucy shook her head, staring hard at a loose thread on Kara’s shoulder. “It’s probably safer not to. We’ll be way too far apart anyways.” Better this way then to fall out of contact.

“But… el mayarah,” Kara had tears glimmering in her eyes, and Lucy’s heart stuttered at the sight.

“I know,” she said softly, hands cupping her cheeks, “I remember. Stronger together. I learned that from you. And I promise I won’t forget it.”

Kara let out a sob and launched herself at Lucy, who clutched at her with just as much desperation.

“One day I’ll show you what it feels like to fly, Lucy,” Kara whispered quietly into Lucy’s ear, hugging her tightly. “One day when it’s safe.” Lucy kept her arms wrapped around Kara’s waist, knowing that if she let go it would be time to return to her house, where her stuff was packed into boxes, ready to be shipped across the country again.

“I’m holding you to that, Kara Zor-El.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry everyone, they'll see each other again!
> 
> The next chapter will be present day, and more or less following the show


	2. National City - Present Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’M SO SORRY Y’ALL, SO SO SORRY.  
> This is my formal apology for taking so long to update this. I am so sorry. I was going through some things that had to be taken care of, and then, well, we all know how season 2 turned out, and that didn’t exactly inspire any positive emotions about the show for me that would translate into motivation to write about it.
> 
> Anyways, yay, present day! Now it’s loosely going to be following the timeline of the episodes.

“Hey James, do you have a minute? I wanted to ask…” Kara trailed off as she realized there was a woman standing in James’ office with him. Stopping in her tracks, Kara thought not for the first time that she should really pay attention to what was going on inside a room before barging in, especially since these offices had glass walls.

As hard as she tried to avoid awkward situations, she was exceptionally good at walking into them.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you… weren’t…” Kara adjusted her glasses instinctively, surprised as she stared at the back of the woman’s head, clearly in the middle of something with James.

Kara’s eyes widened in disbelief as the woman started to turn around at her intrusion, and it seemed like this wasn’t going to be one of those awkward situations that made up so much of her life after all. She blinked slowly, figuring the way time was slowing down around her had to be her imagination, but wasn't able to stop the muted glow of familiarity that was starting to warm her chest.

James stepped forward. “Kara, this is – ”

“Lucy?" she blurted out before the woman was fully facing her, unintentionally interrupting James in the middle of his introduction.

“Kara!"

The astonished expression on Lucy’s face turned into a blinding smile, and she was already reaching out for her when Kara sped over to her at what she hoped was a human speed. Kara bounced excitedly, leaning down to enveloping her a tight hug.

But then she heard the breath whoosh out of her lungs, and she blanched and hurried to let her go, already apologizing.

“Sorry, sorry! That was too hard, I didn’t mean to – ”

Lucy was already laughing, and she reached out to squeeze her hands tightly. “Kara, it’s _so_ good to see you.” Her hair was a shorter than it used to be, keeping a styled wave that varied from the casually messy locks she used to sport a decade ago, and her clothes were much fancier, but her eyes crinkled just the same.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Kara exclaimed, laughing and hugging her again and maybe spinning her around a little bit. She felt the tips of Lucy’s hair brush against her neck, and pulled back, unconsciously bouncing on her toes as she kept her hands on Lucy’s shoulders. “I love your hair, it’s so pretty! How long are you in National City? I’m so happy to see you!”

Lucy laughed again, bringing her hands up to rest on Kara’s forearms and squeezing. “You look great, Kara.”

“Thank you! _You_ look great, I love that top. How’ve you been? And your earrings!” She hugged Lucy again to stop herself from gushing, unsure of what to do with the excitement bursting in her chest. “It’s so amazing to see you.”

She felt Lucy shifting in her grip and pulled back to see her still smiling. “How’s life? How was Harvard? How’s Lois? Are you still in the military? Do you get to stay here? I have so much to tell you! I’m sorry, I’m – I’m talking to much, aren’t I – you’re just really… I can’t believe you’re here!”

Kara squealed and rushed forward to wrap her in another quick hug, jumping back again to stare at her in awe. She bounced and had to remind herself to keep her feet on the floor, landing a little hard when she settled.

James cleared his throat, and Kara startled when she turned towards him, having forgotten about his presence for a moment. “I guess you two already know each other then?” They both turned their attention to James, standing off to the side and rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled ruefully.

“Yes!” Kara giggled breathlessly and tried to stop dancing so exuberantly. “Sorry, James, I – hey, how do you two know each other?” Still smiling widely, she turned back to Lucy, still amazed that she was _here_ , standing right next to her, and she was looking at her. She was _looking_ at her, and she was _right there_ , and Kara could _see_ her.

“Oh, uh, we – we used to date, a while back. In Metropolis.” A flash of discomfort crossed Lucy’s face for a moment, and Kara tilted her head in confusion, automatically reaching out to try and soothe it away.

“Is everything okay? Oh wait, I’m sorry, I interrupted you.” She brought her hands up to her mouth and glanced between them with wide eyes. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think – ”

James laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Kara.”

Kara slowly lowered her hands and gave him a grateful smile, laughing sheepishly and automatically glancing over at Lucy.

“Okay, I want to talk to both of you, but – ” Lucy looked between the two of them indecisively, clearly not wanting to have either conversation in front of the other, and James moved before Kara could.

“Here, I’ll go run these down to fashion while you talk to Kara, and then I’ll take my lunch break and we can go grab something to eat.” Lucy nodded appreciatively at the suggestion, placing a hand on his arm when he moved closer to grab an armful of files off his desk.

Kara rocked up on her toes and tangled her fingers together as they waited for James to leave, still smiling uncontrollably.

Once the door had clicked shut, Kara spun back around to face Lucy excitedly. “So, James. Are you – did you come here to get back together with him?”

“No, not at all.” Lucy shook her head empathetically. “We dated for a bit, but overall we’re better as friends. I didn’t like the way we ended things though, and he ran off for National City before we could sit down and talk about it. Like a baby.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Because he’s a good friend, and I don’t have very many of them, so I just wanted to make sure we were still good, after everything.” At this Lucy blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I came here… for you actually. I was planning to surprise you tonight.”

Kara squealed out loud, momentarily forgetting they were in CatCo, albeit tucked away in James’ office.

“You did? Oh, wow, this is so great.” Kara reached thoughtlessly for Lucy’s hand, but didn’t miss the way she stiffened in surprise for a moment before relaxing into the touch.

“Is – sorry, I know it’s been a long time since we saw each other, can I…?”

Lucy let out a nervous laugh. “It’s just, I’m not used to…” she clasped and unclasped her hands awkwardly before holding her palms out wide. “Not exactly used to it anymore. You just surprised me.”

Kara retreated back a full step, wrapping her arms around her stomach and staring at her with wide eyes. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable – oh, and I kept hugging you before! I’m so sorry, I should’ve – ”

Lucy reached out for her, shutting her up. “It’s okay, Kara,” she smiled softly, “You have my standing permission to be touchy again.”

Kara remained silent, staring at their clasped hands before smiling at her in wonder.

“Hi Lucy,” she said shyly, meeting her eyes again.

Lucy matched her smile. “Hello, Kara.”

“So… how’ve you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been – pretty good. I’m in the military, which you know. JAG Corps. Major Lucy Lane,” she said, a strange mix of bashfulness and pride.

“That is so cool, you have to tell me about – everything, tell me everything when we have time.” Kara beamed again, and made a mental note to look up exact specifications of military hierarchy later.

“And you’re assistant to _the_ Cat Grant, queen of all media, right? Along with some… extracurriculars?”

Kara nodded and grinned, “Correct.” She adjusted her glasses again and tilted her head to the side. “Okay, so do we have all that out of the way?”

“I think so,” Lucy said, her voice lilting in a way that Kara had missed hearing.

“Good.” Kara lunged for her and wrapped her arms around Lucy’s shoulders as tightly as she dared, burying her nose in Lucy’s hair. She inhaled and sighed contently, scrunching her eyes shut. “I’m not letting go,” she mumbled, “Just so you’re aware. I’ve got years of no hugging to make up for.”

Lucy brought her hands up slowly, but didn’t hold her any less tightly. “I’ve missed you too, Kara.”

When they finally broke apart, Kara sighed ruefully but kept grinning at Lucy.

“So what time are you done work today?” Lucy asked her, glancing at the clock ticking on the wall before leaning around Kara to glance out into the bullpen. Kara turned with her to see James talking to Winn, leaning up against his desk with his arms crossed.

“About 6:30, probably, maybe a bit earlier? Depending how fast I get the work done.” She bit her lip and thought about it for a second. “Don’t worry, I’ll get everything done fast today.”

Lucy laughed and gave her another hug. “We should probably let James have his office back. And let you get back to work.”

Kara sighed, but taking a second to stretch out her hearing, she knew Ms. Grant was getting restless and preparing to leave her office. “Alright.”

They walked out the door and moved over to Winn and James, and James straightened when he saw them approaching.

“Hey!” he greeted them, “You guys need some more time? I don’t mind staying out of my office for a bit.”

“No, thanks James,” Kara said warmly, shaking her head.

Standing up from his chair, Winn smiled eagerly, sticking out his hand. “Uh, hey – uh, hi! I’m Winn, Kara’s friend. I do IT here at CatCo, and, uh, yeah, that’s… that’s me!”

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at him, shaking his hand. “Major Lucy Lane.”

“Major?” he repeated, eyes wide, and then he quickly coughed and looked down. “Cool! That’s, that’s… cool.”

Lucy laughed lightly, giving him a smile and then turning to squeeze Kara’s arm. “Well, I gotta go. The general’s waiting,” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder and started stepping towards the elevators, and Kara waved, smiling widely.

“I’ll see you later!” she called out, and Lucy grinned and nodded before turning away.

“So… Lucy’s your friend?” Winn asked once Lucy was out of earshot, “And a major, huh?”

“Lucy’s in the JAG Corps!” Kara said proudly, keeping her eyes locked on Lucy waiting for the elevator and ignoring the disbelieving look on his face. She heard the ding of the door opening, and Lucy turned back to give her a secretive smile and a wave. Winn watched them both, the distressed expression still on his face.

“Why is every woman you grew up with so incredibly terrifying?”

“Hm?” Kara waved brightly at Lucy as she smiled before turning to get into the elevator, and spun back around to face Winn. “What are you talking about?”

Winn only pointed after Lucy, making a face at Kara like she should know exactly what he was talking about. “And I’ve met your sister, Kara. Seriously.”

Kara thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “Alex is Alex. She doesn’t like people. Lucy will be much nicer to you, trust me.” She patted Winn on the shoulder and then turned to James. “I can totally understand why you dated her, she’s amazing,” she said proudly, and James gave her a warm smile.

“Yeah, she really is.”

 

 

 

“Alex!” Kara called out excitedly as she entered her apartment, all but dragging Lucy behind her, “Alex! Look who’s here!”

Lounging on the couch, Alex craned her neck backwards to see the door, but her mouth dropped open and she quickly spun around so she was sitting upright.

“Lucy Lane?”

Lucy put one hand on her hip and grinned at her. “The one and only.”

“Look at you!” Alex got to her feet and laughed in surprise, stepping closer. She was grinning, and the way she was pressing her lips together told Kara she was very much resisting the urge to grab Lucy in a headlock and ruffle her hair. “What are you doing here?”

“Came in search of Kara, actually.” Lucy tilted her head towards her. “And you too, of course. It’s so good to see you guys.”

Alex grinned widely, but then stopped, her face twisting regretfully. “I actually have to get to work right now.”

“Oh, that’s alright. I’m staying for a while.”

As if she didn’t quite believe it, Alex shook her head and huffed a laugh, stepping back to get a good look at her. “Okay, get my number from Kara. I’ve missed you, squirt.”

Alex gave them both a hug before disappearing through the door, pulling it closed behind her with the promise to see them later.

They turned back to the apartment, and Lucy raised an eyebrow when she spotted a teddy bear wearing a little Supergirl outfit, pointing at it and turning to Kara for an explanation.

“Yeah, it’s – Alex thinks it’s funny, to buy all the Supergirl merch,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat up at the way Lucy was watching her.

“Ah,” Lucy said, amused, and went over to the shelf to pick it up. “Of course. Gotta get some merch to support the superhero, after all.” Kara ducked her head bashfully, and Lucy shot her another grin before continuing.

“It’s… not surprising, you know,” she smoothed the soft fur of the teddy bear down, fixing the small red cape, “That you’re saving people now. I…” she laughed quietly, shaking her head, “I guess I never really expected anything less. You’re a hero, through and through. Always have been.”

Kara gave her a lopsided smile. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think? I wasn’t even using my powers until Supergirl happened.”

Lucy shrugged, giving her an affectionate smile that slowly morphed into an indecipherable look, and Kara tilted her head as she spoke. “You were always a hero to me.”

She slowly placed the teddy bear back where she’d found it, and then turned back to Kara and laced her hands together in front of her. “Kara,” she said carefully, and Kara shifted, uneasy at the change in her tone. It showed that Lucy didn’t think Kara was going to like whatever it was she had to say, and since it was Lucy she was probably right. “Can we talk about that for a second? Supergirl?”

“Uh, yeah! Sure!” Kara nodded vigorously and waved her towards the couch, waiting for her to sit on the middle cushion before joining her.

“I just – want to understand. Because keeping your secret safe, keeping you safe, had always been the biggest priority, and then…” she chuckled wryly, tucking her hair behind her ear, “And then you flew into the sky in front of the whole world.

“The day after you caught the plane, I sat through sixteen hours of congressional meetings and military briefings, all of them debating how to deal with this ‘new threat’. The entire military received orders to be on high alert because the government thought that it was the first sign of the coming apocalypse.” She sighed heavily. “Half of them saw the mysterious flying woman as a threat, and they were pushing to take her out fast.”

She was talking faster by then, and Kara could hear the anger she was trying to keep down, could see the tension in her shoulders and along her arms. “Just… _why_ did you expose yourself like that?”

Kara fiddled with the ends of her hair and kept her gaze fixed on her knees, close enough to Lucy’s that she could knock them together if she just moved them a couple inches to the side.

“Alex was on that plane.”

There was silence, and then Lucy exhaled and dropped her head against the back of the couch.

“You’re not going to be mad, are you?” Kara asked hesitantly, remembering Alex’s first reaction, and as much as she understood her motivations now, Kara still couldn’t push down the desire to have people be excited for her.

“No,” Lucy breathed, sitting up properly and giving her a smile, “No, I get it now. That totally explains it.”

Kara sighed in relief, feeling her shoulders relax, and looked up when she felt Lucy poke her in the side.

“Can I… see it? The suit?”

Kara nodded enthusiastically and jumped to her feet. “Wait here,” she told her before zipping towards her bedroom. She quickly changed into her supersuit, carelessly tossing her clothes onto her bed and stepping back around the corner to face Lucy. She could feel her cape swishing behind her as she walked, and while usually it made her feel strong and confident, she was very much nervous about Lucy’s reaction.

Kara stood still, hands at her sides as she waited. She could easily hear the quick beat of her heart and her quiet intake of breath, but she knew how many different things those could mean.

“You… wow, you look…” Lucy trailed off, her gaze flitting over Kara. Her eyes were shining with pride, but there was something indiscernible hidden beneath it, and Kara resisted the urge to fiddle with her absent glasses.

Suddenly, the distant wail of sirens cut through the room, close enough that Lucy could pick them up, and they both turned their heads towards the open window. Kara extended the focus of her senses for a moment, honing in on the jackknifed truck a few streets away.

“I – I gotta go,” she stuttered, unsure why she was so breathless.

“Um… Be careful,” Lucy said uncertainly, biting her lip.

“Don’t worry,” Kara gave her a cheeky grin, swooping her hand to gesture at the symbol emblazoned across her chest. “Superhero, remember?”

Lucy laughed softly and nodded, bringing up a hand to push her hair away from her forehead.

“Will you stay until I get back?” Kara asked unsurely, not willing to leave without being sure she was going to see her again. She had gone through life long enough without Lucy.

“I promise I’ll be right here,” Lucy patted the couch cushions she was sitting on, and then pointed at the Supergirl teddy bear behind her. “Me and the bear.”

Kara laughed and nodded, grinning so hard her cheeks started to hurt. “Okay,” she said, moving towards the window, “Then I’ll see you soon.” She took one last look at Lucy sitting in her apartment, and then she leaped out the window, unable to stop herself from turning a couple times into a tight spiral as she let her laughter echo in the wind.

 

 

 

“You know it’s been ten years since we met?”

Sitting in on the couch in borrowed pyjamas, Lucy looked up at Kara when she nudged her in the leg with her toes. Kara’s hair was hanging damp around her shoulders, fresh from a shower, and Lucy smiled.

“Yeah. You offered to show me around school, and then we went for ice cream.”

Kara smiled back, wriggling back into the couch and pulling her legs up. “Best ice cream in Midvale, I remember.”

“Been a long time, hasn’t it,” Lucy said softly, a tiny wrinkle appearing between her eyes, and Kara watched her for a moment before leaning forward and poking her in the forehead.

“Well, like you said, it’s been ten years since we met, give or take a couple weeks.” Kara said, eyes shining. “Wanna celebrate? Ten year anniversary is a big deal, you know,” she grinned cheekily, “I showed you the best ice cream place in Midvale, how about this time I take you to the best one in National City? Keep up the tradition?”

A slow smile spread across Lucy’s face, and she laughed at the eager way Kara was waiting for her answer. “I think that sounds great, Kara. Now, tell me about superheroing.”

Kara wriggled happily into the couch, ecstatic to finally have her friend to talk to.

 

 

 

“Hey Lucy,” Kara chirped happily, answering the phone call, “Are you done dinner with your dad? I was just about to call you!” She propped the phone between her ear and her shoulder, reaching up to search for the bag of chips she could swear she had stashed in one of the food cupboards. “I was wondering, do you – ”

 _“Kara, I have to tell you something_ ,” Lucy’s voice cut her off.

“What’s up?”

_“I found out why my dad is in town, and surprise, it’s not just to see me.”_

Kara stopped rifling through her cupboards, pulling back in surprise and bringing her hand up to the phone so she was holding it properly. “Why does that sound so threatening?”

On the other end of the line, Lucy sighed harshly. _“He’s got a meeting set with the DEO tomorrow, concerning Supergirl. Is Alex with you?”_

“What?” Kara’s eyes widened, and she spun around to see Alex watching her from the couch. “Yeah, she’s here. I’ll put you on speaker.” She walked back to the couch, shrugging and raising her palms as she clicked the speaker button to show Alex she didn’t know what was going on either. “You’re good, Lucy,” Kara said, sitting next to Alex and holding the phone up between them. “What’s going on?”

_“My dad’s going to the DEO tomorrow to try and get Supergirl transferred into his command.”_

Alex narrowed her eyes immediately, sitting up and leaning closer to the phone. “Can he even do that? Just waltz in and start demanding things?”

_“I’m pretty sure he’s got an executive order to force the DEO into complying.”_

Kara stared at Alex with wide eyes. “Can he actually make that happen? I’m not even a real agent, am I?”

Alex nodded seriously, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “We’ll use that. You’re not an agent, you don’t technically work for us, he has no power over you.”

“Wait, Lucy, what does he want with Supergirl anyways?”

“ _Something about testing some kind of alien defense mechanism? ‘Anti-insurgent combat device’ is what he said when I asked._ ”

“I – but I’m not – he wants to test a weapon on me?”

Don’t worry, Kara.” Alex’s hand was steady on her shoulder, her expression steely. “I won’t leave you alone with him.”

_“I’ll be there as well. I got myself assigned as the military attaché, so you’ll have me too.”_

“Okay,” Kara bobbed her head even though Lucy couldn’t see her, pressing into Alex’s side. “So we just pretend we don’t know each other. Simple.”

_“Alright. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”_

“Okay. Thanks Lucy.”

“Bye, Lucy.”

She hung up with a click, and Kara stared down at the phone, nervously starting to twist it between her fingers before Alex reached over and swiped it away, leaning to set it down on the coffee table.

“Okay, don’t overthink this and freak out,” she said, eyeing her carefully, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed, blowing out a breath. “Everything’s going to be just fine.”

 

 

 

Kara spun around in the desk chair, movements blurring ever so slightly and betraying the anxiety she was trying to hide. She’d been sitting there for over an hour waiting for General Lane to arrive at the DEO, not able to focus on anything else, and was running out of things in Alex’s lab she was allowed to touch to occupy her time with.

Alex threw a chocolate bar at her, nailing her in the side of the head, but Kara didn’t react until Alex came to stand in front of her, putting her hands on her shoulders and sticking her face in front of hers.

“Kara, it’ll be okay. I said we could wait here, but if you start to freak out I’m telling Hank to call it off and taking you home.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Kara shook her head, bringing up one hand to scratch the back of her neck, “Totally fine, I got this.” She smiled too widely to be entirely convincing, but Alex sighed and let it go.

“Okay, well, try and relax. Now, eat. You’ll feel better.” Alex bent to pick up the fallen chocolate bar and pressed it into her hands, waiting until Kara started unwrapping it before she moved back to her workstation on the other side of the room. Kara watched as she scribbled what was probably supposed to be chemical equations on a white board until the sound of an approaching military convoy reached her ears.

“Military’s here,” Kara informed Alex apprehensively, a small wrinkle between her eyes. She made to stand, but Alex shook her head.

“Kara, we’re not supposed to know about this, remember? We wait for Hank to call us in. And then we pretend we weren’t just chilling in my lab until they showed up.” Alex capped her marker and moved over to the computer station, typing for a moment and then swinging the screen around so she could see it from her white board.

“Do you think he’ll recognize me?” Kara asked worriedly, plucking at her cape.

Alex scoffed, still working through the data displayed on the lab monitors. “Please, like he ever cared enough about Lucy to know her friends? Especially those from like, ten years ago.”

Kara chewed on her lip as she thought, brow creased. “He really wasn’t the best father, was he.”

Alex gave a hollow laugh with no traces of humor, and Kara knew they weren’t just talking about him ignoring her friends. “No, he really wasn’t.”

Kara kicked despondently at the unoccupied stool in front of her and started to count the scuffmarks on the floor for the third time.

 

 

 

Out in the desert, Lucy held back as General Lane began talking. She’d already seen Kara in her Supergirl outfit, but then she’d just been _Kara_ , standing in her homey apartment. Here she was Supergirl, standing in the sun with her arms crossed and her cape flowing in the breeze, surrounded by heavily armed government operatives.

It was a completely different picture.

“Your covert operations could be handled effectively with my special forces, and without _foreign_ assistance.”

Supergirl kept her arms crossed. “Why do you need me?”

Lucy barely suppressed the urge to roll her eyes when she saw her father keeping his eyes on Director Henshaw, refusing to address Kara directly.

“We’ve been developing something, an anti-insurgent combat device, project codename RT. I need her help testing it for me.”

“She has no choice.” Seeing her opening, Lucy strode forward, holding up the folder in her hand, “We have an executive order forcing you to comply.”

Across from her, Kara couldn’t help the surprise from flashing across her face, not used to the hard tone of Lucy’s voice or the authoritative way she was holding herself. Though she was the shortest one here, Lucy stood tall in her uniform, clearly conveying that she meant business. Kara stared at her for longer than she meant to before looking back at General Lane, and she narrowed her eyes as he continued talking. He never addressed her directly, or even looked at her properly, and Alex nudged her in the side to stop her from gritting her teeth.

“My legal attaché and my daughter, Major Lane.”

Kara scowled at his smug tone of voice, noting how different it sounded when Lucy was saying her own title.

“It’s been signed by the president,” General Lane continued, “You can take it up with her if you'd like.”

“Unless you don’t think you’re up to it,” Lucy said, tone derisive and just this side of challenging, and Kara straightened up, not sure if she should pretend to be angry or laugh.

“I’ll do it,” she interjected too quickly, schooling her expression as best she could.

“Supergirl, you don’t have to,” Alex told her, glaring at General Lane. At her side, Director Henshaw was scanning through the contents of the folder.

“I agree with Agent Danvers.”

“What do you need me to do?” Kara asked, glancing at the truck she knew contained the android. She didn’t know what her face looked like, but she was willing to bet Lucy was doing a better job based on the impassive look she was getting. Her lips started to quirk up in a grin before Lucy widened her eyes at her warningly, and Kara cleared her throat, returning her attention to General Lane.

“Fight my robot,” he drawled condescendingly, making eye contact with her for the first time since they’d arrived. Kara barely managed to stop her eye roll and instinctively sought out Lucy, only to find her glaring at her again.

“It’s not a robot,” a new voice cut in, “It’s an anthropomorphic pseudo-entity, with combat capabilities.” Kara turned to the side to see Dr. Morrow, the head scientist of the project Lucy had told her about.

They made their way over to where he was waiting with some kind of large tablet in his hands. He surveyed the large case proudly before turning to them and pressing a few buttons. “I call it Red Tornado.”

 

Back in the command center, Kara sidled over to where Lucy was standing off to the side, watching as General Lane hashed it out with Director Henshaw.

“You’re really cool when you’re working, by the way,” Kara said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest and focusing on the back of Vasquez’ head where she was sitting across the room.

“Okay, but we can’t do that again.” Lucy twisted her hands together once before clasping them behind her back, face a picture of blank obedience.

“Why not?” Kara whispered, glancing around surreptitiously. None of the other soldiers were paying attention to them.

“Kara, I think you’re even worse at lying than you used to be,” Lucy said incredulously, staring up at her, and Kara gaped at her, nose scrunching up as she protested.

“I – am a _great_ liar, thank you very much.”

Lucy raised a disbelieving eyebrow and only shook her head.

“Hey Supergirl, you’re standing awfully close to someone you _just met_ ,” Alex hissed out of the corner of her mouth, walking past her to go examine the computer monitors.

Kara’s eyes widened and she straightened up, realizing she had instinctively fallen back into the casual familiarity that came naturally to her from years before. She shuffled her feet and recrossed her arms, shaking her hair out of her face and clearing her throat as she lifted her chin and tried to look authoritative.

Lucy kept her perfect military posture, but her eyes glinted with amusement as she glanced at Kara once before turning back to the argument happening in the middle of the command center.

 

 

 

James scanned Kara’s stack of games. “Hey, we’ve got an even number of people, we can play Taboo.”

Immediately, Kara reached out and grabbed Lucy’s arm, pulling her into her side. “Lucy’s on my team!” she declared enthusiastically, bouncing on her toes. Lucy grinned up at her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “James, you can have Winn.”

“But Winn sucks.”

“Hey!”

“No offense, buddy.”

Lucy laughed, and Kara grinned at her before stepping away to dig out the game.

“Why do I get the feeling that you two are going to destroy us?” James had his arms crossed as he surveyed them, a lopsided grin on his face as he leaned against the arm of the couch.

“We haven’t seen each other in years,” Lucy offered, smiling impishly, “We have to be a little rusty. You know, fallen out of touch with each other.” She smiled wider at him, and it was thoroughly unconvincing.

“Sure,” he rolled his eyes good-naturedly, “Rusty.”

 

They were in fact not rusty, and Kara and Lucy completely destroyed the boys.

As they waited for the losers to pay their price and pack up the games, Lucy folded her legs up under her and leaned back on the couch, propping her elbow behind Kara’s shoulder and shifting to face her properly.

“Kara, have I told you that I love your apartment? Because I _love_ your apartment. It’s amazing.”

Kara beamed, thanking her, but they were interrupted by James and Winn scuffling over something by the TV.

“Hey, break it up guys!” Kara called out warningly, and they immediately froze, giving her sheepish grins and quickly stowing the rest of the games.

“Alright,” Kara narrowed her eyes at Winn, “It is your turn to pick the movie.”

“It better be something good this time.” James pointed his finger at him, and he held his hands up in surrender.

“Yeah, yeah, I got the message, you didn’t like the last movie I picked, enough already.”

“So? What’s it gonna be?”

“Well, in honor of Supergirl fighting an android, I thought it was only fitting…” he pulled a DVD case out of his messenger bag with a flourish, “we watch Terminator.”

Kara laughed and nodded agreeably, and Winn went to pop in the movie while James went to fetch the snacks and dim the lights.

Just after the opening credits, there was a gentle touch on her cheek, and Kara turned her head to find Lucy’s face extremely close to hers, illuminated by the flickering light of the television.

“Here,” she whispered, reaching out and carefully removing Kara’s glasses. “You don’t need these now.”

Kara smiled gratefully at her, waiting for Lucy to place them on the coffee table before settling back against the couch cushions next to her. Lucy pressed into her side, and by the time the credits rolled she was sound asleep, head resting against Kara’s arm.

“Should we wake her up?” James asked quietly, standing from the other couch and shaking Winn’s shoulder.

“No, it’s okay,” Kara whispered, gently brushing a lock of hair away from Lucy’s face, “She can sleep here tonight, I’ll make sure she’s up in time to meet her dad.”

Winn and James quietly got their stuff and moved towards the door, whispering their goodbyes, and Kara gave them each a hug as they left.

Closing the door behind them, Kara turned to face her apartment. The kitchen light was the only one on, and she could see Lucy’s tousled head of hair over the arm of the couch. Smiling, she went over and tucked the blanket around Lucy, remembering to make sure to her feet were covered.

“Goodnight, Lucy,” she whispered, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Lucy didn’t stir, and Kara quietly shut the light and moved over to her own bed, content knowing Lucy would be there in the morning.

 

 

 

“Hi,” Kara said sleepily, standing in rumpled pyjamas and rubbing at her eyes. “I was going to wake you up early, but it looks like…” She yawned widely, covering her mouth. “It looks like you have that covered.”

Lucy sipped her coffee, all dimples and bright eyes as she leaned back against the counter. “Habit,” she shrugged, smiling into her mug, “You want some breakfast?”

Kara’s eyes lit up. “ _Always_. You can make breakfast?”

Raising an eyebrow, Lucy turned back to the stove and in no time presented Kara with a plate of pancakes, watching Kara’s eyes light up.

“Lucy,” Kara said fervently, “You are the best.”

 

“Your hair was always so soft,” Lucy told Kara as she started carding her fingers through her hair, separating the strands in preparation for a braid, “I remember that." If she wanted to get poetic about it, she would definitely be comparing Kara’s hair to spun gold, or strands of sunlight, or something equally saccharine. “When did you start wearing it up?”

“A bit after you left. I was, uh, my senses were getting a bit too much for me again, and my hair kept bothering me. Like, it would fall in front of my face, or I could feel it on my neck and arms, and it was just… making me really uncomfortable, I couldn’t concentrate on anything. So Alex suggested we start tying it back, keep it away from my skin. It worked really well, so I never stopped, even when I got a handle on the sensitivity again.” Kara giggled at a memory. “Alex let me practice different braid styles on her, you would have loved to see it.”

Lucy laughed out loud, but they were interrupted by the sound of Kara’s phone ringing, and she smiled apologetically.

“Sorry, I’m gonna take this real quick.” She stood up and crossed the room to answer the call, and she looked puzzled when she turned back.

“Hank says your dad wants to see me,” Kara said, hanging up the phone. “He wants to make sure I’m ‘prepared’ to fight the android?” Lucy raised an eyebrow and Kara shrugged. “That’s how Hank said it. ‘Prepared’. The air quotes were very clear.”

“You sure you’re up for it?” Lucy asked carefully, laying her hand over Kara’s. “You only have to fight it tomorrow, I’m sure we can figure a way out of in time.” There was no judgment in her tone, and Kara knew Lucy wouldn’t think any less of her no matter what she chose.

“No, I’ll do it. I have to prove that Supergirl can do this,” she nodded decisively, and Lucy squeezed her hand.

“Okay, if you’re absolutely sure.” She checked her watch and then stood up, gesturing for Kara to do the same. “Come on, I’m going to be late meeting my dad, and you have to get to work.”

Kara pouted but did what she said. “Are you free for dinner tonight?”

Gathering her purse and jacket, Lucy shook her head regretfully. “No, my dad wants to have dinner. I can come by afterwards, though.”

“Awesome,” Kara said brightly, holding the door open for Lucy, “We can watch some bad TV or something.”

Lucy laughed at how excited she sounded and nodded her head. “That sounds great, I’m in. Just as long as you actually share your ice cream this time.”

Kara stopped and tilted her head like she was considering it. “Hm,” she said teasingly, “I guess you’ll have to show up and find out.”

 

 

 

Walking down the street with her father, Lucy only had a split-second warning in the form of screeching tires when she saw a bus swerve in the street, headed straight for them. Turning away, she instinctively covered her head and squeezed her eyes shut, curling in on herself and bracing for the impact.

Instead, there was a light thud and nothing more.

She slowly opened her eyes, and instead of seeing the crumpled remains of an accident, all she saw was a fluttering red cape.

Supergirl was standing in front of them holding the bus, the muscles in her arm clearly outlined by her suit. “You wanted to see me?” she said casually, keeping one fist propped up on her hip as she kept her other arm outstretched, carefully balancing the bus.

“Supergirl,” General Lane said stonily, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Come on Dad, she literally just saved our lives,” she said, barely holding back her disapproval.

General Lane didn’t respond and continued to glare at Supergirl, who only raised an eyebrow at him before gently setting the bus down back on the road, floating up to peer through the windows.

“Endangered any civilians recently?” General Lane said stiffly, and Kara stared at him.

“Do you mean like… stopping them from getting hurt? Because that’s the opposite of endangering them, last time I checked.” Kara blinked and then shook her head a few times. “There’s an accident on 18th and Robinson, if you’ll excuse me?”

“Meet you behind Noonan’s?” Lucy whispered under her breath, knowing Kara liked the layout of the alley behind it and probably had clothes stashed there. Kara looked at her quickly and gave a small nod as she crouched and pushed off, soaring into the air. Lucy tilted her head up and watched her go, hearing her dad scoff and start muttering before he turned to walk away. Lucy sighed and turned to trail after him until he reached his hotel, ever the dutiful daughter.

After telling him goodnight, she turned around and headed back towards Noonan’s, footsteps lighter as she walked down the sidewalk. When she got there, she ducked into the alley and went to wait by the side entrance of Noonan’s.

It was only a couple of minutes before she heard the sound of Supergirl’s cape snapping in the wind and the light thud of her boots hitting the ground.

“Thank you, for the rescue,” Lucy said, pushing away from the wall and stepping away from the opening of the alley towards Kara. “You got there just in time.”

Kara smiled, giving her a brief hug. “Of course. I’m just glad I was close enough.”

“How’d you know?”

Kara blushed, moving back and swishing her cape back and forth with her hands in a nervous gesture. “I was patrolling the city, and I heard your heartbeat spike. It told me you were scared of something.”

“Scared?”

“Okay, not scared, but – alarmed. Troubled. In danger?” Lucy cocked her head to the side, and Kara waved a hand, looking up at the sky as she tried to explain. “Your heartbeat spiked. It’s like my senses are… tuned to you. Sort of. Like, if you’re within a certain range of me, I’m always distantly aware of… you. Heartbeat, breathing…” Kara flushed again. “Sorry, I know that’s kind of weird.”

Lucy laid a reassuring hand on Kara’s arm. “I’d keep tabs on you too if I could.” She held her gaze meaningfully, waiting for Kara to unscrunch her shoulders before smiling radiantly.

“Also, can I just say, that was quite the entrance you pulled back there. I think my dad was annoyed at how impressive it was.”

Kara settled her arm around Lucy’s shoulders and laughed, the sound echoing brightly off the brick walls on either side of them and down the empty alleyway. Lucy let her head fall against Kara's shoulder, feeling the odd texture of the supersuit on her cheek.

“Well, a proper superhero should be able to make an entrance, right?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Lucy nodded, schooling her face into a serious expression as she turned and wrapped her arms comfortably around Kara’s neck. “Superheroing 101,” Lucy chuckled when they came face to face. Well, face to chin. She tilted her head back to see Kara smiling softly at her.

“Now, I think you owe me a flight, Supergirl,” Lucy whispered, leaning up on her toes and putting her lips next to Kara’s ear.

Kara grinned and wrapped her arm around Lucy’s waist, pulling her firmly against her body and urging Lucy to tighten her arms around her neck. “Ready?” she asked, ghosting her lips against Lucy’s temple. Lucy nodded, and Kara tensed her legs in preparation of taking off. Lucy could feel Kara grinning against her hair, and the enthusiasm was infectious.

“Up, up, and away!”

Lucy rolled her eyes, but the motion was cut off when Kara leapt into the air. She gasped as her feet left the floor, instinctively squeezing Kara tighter and pressing herself closer as she felt air rush by her. When the wind stopped, she hesitantly opened her eyes again, blowing her mussed hair out of her face, and was staggered by the sight that greeted her.

“Whoa,” she whispered faintly, amazed.

The sounds of the city were oddly muted from up here, and Lucy watched with her mouth hanging open as Kara slowly floated them past skyscrapers. Seeing her own awestruck expression reflected back at her on some windows snapped her out of it, and she laughed loudly, breathlessly.

Kara twisted gently through the air, pirouetting them gracefully between the tall buildings and letting Lucy take in the streets below. “Can I show you something?” Kara asked her quietly, grip never once faltering, and Lucy was torn between looking around her because she was _flying_ , and looking at Kara. Her face was so close to hers, and Lucy’s eyes kept flickering between the two. She nodded distractedly and Kara smiled, craning her neck to look off into the distance.

“To infinity, and beyond!”

Kara sped off, this time flying significantly faster. Lucy pressed her face into the side of Kara’s neck and giggled breathlessly. The wind was cold at Lucy’s back, but it was warm where Kara was holding her, arms strong and secure. Kara’s cape flapped in the wind as they passed rows of buildings, eventually leaving the city limits and flying out into the darkness.

“Show-off,” Lucy tangled her fingers in the hair at the base of Kara’s neck and tugged at it, not unclasping her hands even though she knew there was no danger of her falling.

“Look around,” Kara told her, practically vibrating with excitement. Lucy lifted her head and grinned at her, twisting to see where Kara had flown them.

The lights of National City twinkled in the distance, and all around them the stars were spread out in the dark expanse of sky. They were out in the desert somewhere, apparently far away from the desert near the DEO base, and the sand horizon seemed to stretch on forever. Kara’s arms were wrapped around her protectively, and her breath was ruffling her hair.

Lucy shivered, and Kara’s grip tightened in concern.

“Are you okay? Did I fly too fast?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“Your heart’s beating quicker than normal, are you feeling okay? I know if I go too fast, people can get nauseous – ”

Lucy scoffed. “Come on Kara, who did you make go on the Tilt-A-Whirl with you eight times in a row when we were kids?” Kara smiled ruefully, and Lucy shook her head. “It’s just a bit cold, I didn’t exactly dress for flying out into the middle of the desert tonight.” It wasn’t a lie, but Lucy didn’t quite know how to explain her muddled feelings right now.

“Right.” Kara instantly pulled her closer, no small feat given how closely they were already pressed together. “Let’s get you home then. Time to get warmed up.”

Kara had just started to lift higher into the air but Lucy pressed her palm against her shoulder, glad when Kara felt it and stalled her movements. “Wait. Can we just… stay here a little while longer?”

The night air was singing around them, stars dancing in the distance, and when Kara smiled she shone brighter than them all. “Yeah,” she said softly, “Yeah, we can do that.”

Lucy smiled back at her and then leaned her head against her shoulder, looking back out at the distant lights. Kara’s cape fluttered gently in the wind, and here, floating up in the sky, Lucy remembered her promise from so long ago, the promise of a little girl telling her that someday they’d fly.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay yes it has now been extended! Can't say goodbye to this Lucy just yet, so there's a couple more chapters coming your way

Alex pressed her lips together tightly as she stood next to General Lane with her arms crossed. As the senior agent on site after the director, she was in charge of the visiting convoy, and right now she _really_ wished it didn’t work like that.

“Danvers. Why does that name sound familiar to me?”

“I wouldn’t know, sir,” Alex answered with a straight face, managing to sound completely disinterested as she watched the agents set up the desert command station.

They passed a few more moments in silence, and Alex had to contain her sneer at his disdainful look. It was a few minutes later that he spoke again.

“My daughter was friends with a Danvers when she was younger, is your family from Midvale?”

“That’s where I grew up,” Alex said, making sure she sounded the right amount of surprised. “What was your daughter’s name again?”

“Major Lucy Lane.” Alex’s skin prickled at his tone of voice when he referred to Lucy, as if she was another item on his list of accomplishments instead of his daughter

“Well that’s quite a coincidence. I’m pretty sure she was friends with my sister.”

“Hm,” he said in a detached tone of voice, “Only time I ever remember my daughter putting up a fight about moving.” He lifted his chin. “Is your sister involved in this as well?”

“No, sir. My sister is a civilian under the firm impression that I work for the FBI as a bioengineer in a research capacity, and I have no intention of changing that.”

He nodded, looking down to flip through his dossier, and Alex sneered at the back of his head.

“Excuse me, sir,” Alex inclined her head to him with the least amount of respect she could manage and walked over to where Kara had just landed with a thump.

“You doing okay?” she asked warily, recognizing the angry furrow to her brow, and Kara exhaled roughly, shaking out her hair.

“I don’t say this often, but I am craving a good fight right now.”

“Well, just keep your cool,” Alex clapped her once on the arm before turning to head back to her post, “You got this.”

Kara narrowed her eyes at the android, listening to the conversation going on in the command center. General Lane’s voice was doing nothing to dispel the anger brewing inside of her, and she inhaled and redirected her focus to Lucy, knowing she was standing in there with Alex and General Lane’s men.

She heard the general give the order to begin, and then the android in front of her whirred to life, lifting it’s head to fix her with a yellow stare. Kara set her jaw and lifted her fists, determined to wrangle the rage that was twisting up her insides and win this fight, at the very least for the vindictive satisfaction of showing up General Lane.

 

Unfortunately, it didn’t go exactly her way.

 

After the fight, after Kara had lost control and Red Tornado had escaped, Kara was bundled into a command tent that was empty except for Alex and Lucy.

“Kara, what happened, are you okay?” Alex’s voice was purposefully light, but Kara could hear the worry she was doing her best to hide. Lucy didn’t say anything, only twisting her fingers at her side, and Kara couldn’t meet her concerned gaze.

“Argh, I’m just…” She shook her arms out, face pinched in frustration as she paced in a tight circle. “I’m just going to go do a couple laps of the city, patrol a bit. See if I somehow catch a trace of Red Tornado, but that’s doubtful.” She gave Lucy a tight smile and strode off briskly, head bowed and shoulders hunched in a way that contrasted with the superhero image.

“Kara,” Lucy called after her, seeing Kara turn her head to the side to show she was listening even as she kept walking. “Text me when you’re home safe, okay?”

Kara’s steps faltered as she reached the entrance of the tent, and then she nodded tightly before disappearing outside, taking off immediately.

 

Hours later, Kara exhaled in frustration as she continued flying crisscrossing laps over National City. It was evening now, and though she had mostly calmed down from her outburst during the fight, she was still out searching on the off chance that she did catch some trace of the rogue android.

“ _Thank you for dinner, Dad_ ,” Kara heard Lucy’s voice filter through the ambient noise of the city and smiled faintly on instinct. It was a nice night, and she took a deep breath, extending her arms out to the side as she soared through the air.

Suddenly people started screaming in the distance and she pulled to a stop, stretching out her hearing until she identified the sound of Red Tornado’s generated wind funnels. She gasped, and she was already streaking towards the source when she heard a body go flying and Lucy’s pained exclamation.

“ _I order you to disengage immediately_.”

Kara heard General Lane speak up, the command predictably failing to affect Red Tornado in any way, and the click of Red Tornado’s additional weapons systems engaging gave her the extra burst of speed she needed to drop down in front of him and catch the android’s fist before it made contact.

“I won’t let you hurt them.” Kara set her jaw. She knew she had to take care of Red Tornado before checking on Lucy, but she could hear her heart beat sounding faintly in her ears. She lashed out, but the android dodged her punches with an unexpected amount finesse, ducking out of the way before she managed to land a kick to send it skidding across the street.

It straightened and she watched it warily, readying herself for a charge, but instead Red Tornado started spinning, getting completely enveloped by… a tornado. The wind started to pick up and whip around, and Kara watched in horror as an actual tornado grew into existence, right in the middle of the street.

Red Tornado stepped out of it, but the tornado continued to grow, stretching towards the sky and causing stray debris to start flying around. Cars on the road started sliding uncontrollably, and when Kara looked back at Red Tornado she could swear the expression it gave her was taunting.

The android flew off in the opposite direction of the tornado, and Kara only hesitated for a split second before taking off towards the tornado, knowing she had to save the civilians that were about to get caught up in it. She acted quickly to dispel it, straining as she flew tight circles around it in the opposite direction. She could feel the wind pulling at her, and then it disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.

When everything had settled, Kara did a cursory check to confirm that there was no sign of Red Tornado as she sped to where Lucy was lying on the ground, batting the toppled patio furniture out of the way.

“Lucy,” Kara breathed out, hands trembling as she reached for her. Lucy was lying on her side, her hands pressing against the ground as she tried to push herself up.

Kara brushed the loose brown hair away from her face as best she could, and Lucy stared at her for a moment too long before recognition flickered in her eyes. She reached for Kara, a dazed expression on her face as she mumbled something even Kara’s ears couldn’t hear properly. Her eyes were glazed over and struggled to focus as Kara helped her into a sitting position.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” A quick x-ray scan of Lucy’s body showed no broken bones, but it was obvious she had taken a hit to the head.

“I, uh,” Lucy slowly touched a trembling hand to her temple and pulled it back, staring in confusion at the smear of blood on her fingers. “I – ugh, I think…”

“I gotcha, it’s okay,” Kara soothed, gently sliding an arm behind Lucy’s knees and picked her up, cradling her close to her chest. “Let’s get you to the DEO.”

Lucy’s head lolled against Kara’s shoulder, and she groaned as her eyes slipped shut.

“No, you have to stay awake. Lucy? Lucy, you have to stay awake until I can get you to a doctor.” The panic that had been building inside her since she had heard the sickening sound of Lucy’s body collide with the tables and then the ground from sixteen blocks away swelled up again, and Kara tried desperately to force it down.

“Supergirl, I order you to put my daughter down.” General Lane stepped forward, using the same tone on her that he’d unsuccessfully tried on Red Tornado.

Kara gritted her teeth, still hunched protectively over Lucy. “I am not under your command, General! She’s clearly injured, and I can get her help faster than any ambulance. I’m flying her to the DEO.”

He opened his mouth to argue again, and she shook her head sharply, pressing her lips together in a firm line. “I will have someone come pick you up and we’ll meet you there.”

Without waiting for an answer, she took off, ducking her head and hunching her shoulders to try and shield Lucy from the wind. Lucy gasped at the takeoff again, just like the first time Kara had taken her flying, and Kara’s heart clenched worriedly even as she nuzzled her face against the top of Lucy’s head apologetically.

“Kara,” Lucy mumbled after Kara had leveled off, using one hand to bat weakly at the blonde hair hanging in front of her face.

Kara looked down quickly, checking to make sure her grip wasn’t causing Lucy any unnecessary discomfort. “What is it? Are you okay?” She raised her voice to be heard over the sound of the wind rushing by them.

“You probably… shouldn’t be yelling about the DEO… in the middle of the street. It’s supposed to be a… _covert_ government agency,” Lucy mumbled, struggling to keep her eyes open, “Not supposed to exist.”

Kara let out a watery laugh, wondering if Lucy would believe her if she blamed the wind for whatever tears fell from her eyes. “Well, when we get you all checked out you can team up with Alex to try and give me a better lesson on discretion.”

Lucy sighed in agreement, relaxing against Kara. Even at the speed they were flying, her arms tightened more firmly around Kara’s neck and her breathing started to come easier, a promising sign in terms of her injury.

“Supergirl to DEO, is anyone there?” Kara spoke into her comm, waiting for someone to pick up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Alex’s voice came through, and Kara sighed in relief.

“I fought Red Tornado again, it showed up in the middle of the city. No civilian casualties, but I lost it. I’m bringing Lucy in, she got knocked in the head. Can you have one of the doctors ready, and send somebody to go pick up General Lane?” She quickly rattled off the address of where she’d left the general and thanked Alex before focusing on keeping her flight smooth until they got to the DEO base.

When they landed, Kara was relieved to see Lucy able to stand properly, her eyes much more focused and alert than just a few minutes ago. She gave Kara a warning look when she offered to carry her inside, but let her wrap an arm around her waist. They made their way through the corridors slowly, and as Lucy kept a steady pace Kara’s relief grew.

They were greeted by an agent who whisked them to the med bay, where Dr. Hamilton quickly led Lucy over to the exam table. Kara fretted anxiously, hovering around the room while Dr. Hamilton examined Lucy.

“Kara, I’m fine. Please stop pacing around like that.” Kara darted forward to adjust her ice pack, and Lucy looked at her amusedly, even as she winced at the doctor applying disinfectant to the small cut on her forehead.

Kara didn’t stop, but she soon heard General Lane’s voice coming down the hallway and stepped back, wiping her hands off on her skirt. She crossed her arms, doing her best to keep her face impassive as she kept a watchful eye on Lucy.

General Lane pushed the door open, and Kara was startled when all he did was take his hat off and stand in the corner, not going to Lucy like she expected him too. Lucy lowered her eyes, looking resigned and unsurprised.

Affronted, Kara opened her mouth to say something, but Lucy cleared her throat, drawing her attention back.

“I know I haven’t said it yet. You saved my life. Thank you.”

Kara softened, instinctively letting her hearing stretch out to listen to Lucy’s steady pulse. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten they weren’t alone, and her focus didn’t last.

“You let that thing get away.” General Lane’s voice was grating, and Kara winced as she reigned her senses back in to their normal manageable level, turning to look at him in disbelief. His daughter was sitting in the med bay, and the first thing out of his mouth was to blame people. “I thought you were on our side.”

Kara didn’t miss the way he phrased it to alienate her once again, and she did her best not to scowl. He walked out of the med bay, and Kara followed him once Lucy was on her feet, nudging her gently in the small of her back.

“I tried.” Kara said, skin prickling at the insinuation that this was her fault. “It fought harder this time, faster. Like it learned a thing or two from the last go.”

“It fought smarter this time,” Lucy broke in, a thought forming in the back of her mind. “It knew you would choose to save those people. The tornado was just a diversion to get away. He used your humanity against you.”

Kara gave her a questioning look, but her attention was quickly drawn back to General Lane.

“And now more innocent humans will be in danger.”

Kara hung her head in frustration, and Lucy looked at him accusingly. “Supergirl didn’t want for this to happen – ” she started, but fell silent when her father glared at her.

He focused back on Supergirl. “If anything else happens, you and the DEO will both be held accountable.”

“That’s _enough_ , General.” Hank’s voice carried over the chatter of the room as he marched up to them. “My team analyzed Red Tornado’s dermal covering. It’s made of a biosynthetic polymer which contains traces of lead. To suppress x-ray vision, right?” He glowered at him, and Kara was surprised to see the general actually looked slightly cowed. “The android wasn’t meant to fight insurgents, it was designed to kill Kryptonians.”

Kara drew back in shock, her gaze darting back and forth between them, but General Lane didn’t even spare her a glance as he responded immediately.

“You’ve got Fort Rozz aliens locked up downstairs. Monsters. Abominations. Some of them have wings. Some have horns. And others spit acid. Do you know the difference between _them_ and _her_?”

Kara lifted her chin, clenching her jaw in anger at his tone.

General Lane raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in her direction as he kept his stare on Hank. “She’s blonde.”

“She saved you and your daughter tonight. You don’t owe her fear and contempt, you owe her a thank you!” Hank said fiercely.

General Lane didn’t respond, only giving him a measured look before he picked up his hat and made his way towards the exit. Lucy straightened as he passed, and Kara knew that was her cue to follow him.

“I’ll come by your apartment later?” Lucy whispered as she moved to follow her father out of the DEO, too quietly for human ears to hear. Kara nodded, giving her a small smile and watching as she hurried after him. She stayed standing there, shoulders slumping, until Alex came to put a hand on her back.

“Ignore him,” she said darkly, “He’s wrong about all of it.”

“I’m… yeah, I know.” Kara exhaled heavily and nodded, drawing her shoulders in and fiddling with the ends of her sleeves that hooked the suit around her thumbs. “I know.”

Alex stayed at her side, and Hank clapped her on the shoulder with a gruff apology on his way past.

“I know.”

 

 

 

“I brought noodles,” Lucy greeted Kara as she opened the door, giving her a hesitant smile. Kara pulled her into a hug, sagging against her gratefully and burying her face in her hair. Kara’s stomach growled as her nose registered the smell of food, and she looked to see what Lucy was holding with interest.

“Noodles?”

“Lots and lots of noodles,” she held up the bags, laughing when Kara visibly perked up at the sight of what a normal person would assume could easily feed a family of five, “From that Chinese place you were talking about last week.”

Kara beamed, but her smile dimmed when she caught a flash of the small white bandage high on Lucy’s forehead, peeking through her hair.

“Come in, sit down,” she let the door fall shut behind them and ushered Lucy towards the couch, ignoring her protests. Kara took the bags from her and put them on the coffee table, telling Lucy to stay put with a stern look on her face. Lucy rolled her eyes but obliged, leaning forward to sort through the different takeout containers.

Kara made sure Lucy was situated before hurrying to the kitchen. “Do you want anything to drink?” she called as she grabbed forks and napkins, content to eat out of the containers.

“Water?” Lucy pulled off her boots and dropped down onto the couch.

Kara nodded and opened the fridge to take out a couple water bottles she always kept in there. Moving back to the couch, she set them on the coffee table and handed Lucy a fork, sitting next to her.

Lucy smiled at her in thanks and made a pleased sound, digging into the container she’d selected for herself. “I know I already had dinner, but this is exactly what I needed after today.” She shoveled a forkful into her mouth, but then furrowed her brow when she realized Kara hadn’t reached for any of the other open containers, instead only fiddling with her fork. Concerned, she swallowed her mouthful of food and stuck her fork into the noodles, putting her hand on Kara’s arm. “Kara? Is everything okay? You’re not eating.”

Kara hummed noncommittally, her eyes darting up to Lucy’s face before returning to her lap just as quickly. “How’s your head?”

“Oh, Kara,” Lucy breathed out, leaning forward to set her food on the coffee table. “I promise you, I’m okay. You heard the doctor, and I’m telling you I feel fine.” She reached out to pick up Kara’s hand, gently running her fingers over her knuckles, knowing physical contact always helped to reassure her. “You can’t blame yourself for this.”

Kara exhaled heavily, leaning into her. “I know it’s not my fault, not like your dad says it is, but… If I had stopped during the first fight, if I hadn’t triggered its emergency preservation function…” She hung her head, staring at her lap and Lucy’s hand holding hers.

“This isn’t your fault,” Lucy told her seriously, nudging the takeout boxes closer to her in hopes of getting her to eat some. Kara always wanted food. “Kara, I took the Advil. It’s fine, just a little headache. I promise I will tell you if anything gets worse.”

Kara sighed. “Okay. Okay, I know, I’m sorry,” she raked a hand through her hair, half-twisted up in a braid. “I just wish this wasn’t how Red Tornado had decided to show up again.”

“That’s also what I wanted to talk to you about.” Lucy straightened and patted at Kara’s arm. “I’ve seen Dr. Morrow’s blueprints for Red Tornado, and they didn’t have an artificial intelligence component sophisticated enough to adapt as quickly as it did. I think it’s being controlled.”

“Controlled?”

Lucy nodded. “By Dr. Morrow.”

Kara widened her eyes and she sat up properly. “What?”

“If it was a self preservation function guiding it, why would it go straight for my dad?” Lucy reasoned, and Kara tilted her head as she considered it.

“You’re totally right. We should tell Alex, she’ll be able to figure something out with that.”

Lucy nodded and pulled out her phone, and after informing Alex of her theory, set it down on the table and went back to watching Kara.

Kara was biting her lip, fiddling with her fingers nervously, and Lucy picked up her food again as she let her think. Four mouthfuls later, Kara reached out to prod her in the arm.

“Hey, can I get you a signal? Like James’ watch, then you could always call for me if ever you’re in danger again.” Kara chewed her lip and watched her anxiously, eyes flicking up to the small bandage on Lucy’s forehead and the bruise blooming on her hairline. Without thinking, Kara brought her hand up and gently brushed her fingers against the skin.

Lucy held still patiently, letting Kara reassure herself that the injury wasn’t as bad as she was afraid it was. Kara traced her fingers over the bruise, then down the side of Lucy’s face, tucking her hair behind her ear. Lucy smiled up at her, and was relieved when Kara finally sat back and reached for her food.

“Sure, I’d love that. Is it going to be tacky like James’ watch though? Because I don’t think anyone over the age of twelve can pull that look off.”

Kara laughed, knocking her shoulder lightly into Lucy’s, and Lucy grinned.

“No but seriously, it looks like he got it out of a cereal box.”

“I’m sure I can find something more tasteful to put it in.” Kara’s face finally split into a wide grin, and Lucy relaxed when she finally reached for the food, bouncing cheerily in her seat. “I’m… really glad you’re okay, Lucy,” Kara said over her box of lo mein, and Lucy reached out to grip her hand.

“Of course I’m okay. I’ve got a superhero in my corner, after all.” She smiled at her, and Kara squeezed her hand back.

 

 

 

“We’ve got a plan to stop Dr. Morrow and deactivate Red Tornado,” Kara said assuredly with her hands on Lucy’s shoulders, knowing she had to leave the DEO base to make it out to the desert where they were laying the trap.

“Be careful,” Lucy said worriedly, and Kara quickly leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead.

“I promise,” she whispered, and then she was gone.

Out in the desert, it seemed like everything was going according to plan. They lured Red Tornado out to the desert with a hologram of General Lane, Alex located Dr. Morrow and went after him, and Kara tried to take down the android again. Unfortunately, the fights were proving more difficult then they’d hoped.

The sounds of Alex’s fight carried over the microphone, and Kara gritted her teeth and pushed forward, frustrated with the way the android kept evading her.

“Alex!”

Red Tornado pulled her own arm tight around her neck in a chokehold, crushing her windpipe, and Kara struggled to get free, hearing Alex’s labored breathing through her comm. Her vision started going spotty, and Kara gasped, her eyes fluttering.

Then there was a gunshot, and nothing.

Red Tornado went limp behind her, and Kara fell to her knees, gasping. “Alex?” Kara wheezed, not breathing until she heard Alex exhale harshly in the mic. “Oh, thank god. You did it.”

Suddenly Red Tornado straightened up again, active as if nothing had happened, and Kara stumbled backwards. “It’s still going. It’s still going!”

She heard Hank and Alex conferring over the comms, their panic becoming more apparent, and Red Tornado blasted her across the concrete. Kara felt a strange sense of calm fall over her as she stood, fury starting to manifest in a dull thud in her ears and a burning heat behind her eyes, and she stared down Red Tornado, chest heaving as it paced forward before rounding on her.

Not waiting for it to attack again, she unleashed her heat vision, hitting it squarely in the chest. Red Tornado only faltered for a moment before continuing forward, and she gritted her teeth, feeling anger being pulled out of her as the searing heat raced through her body.

She remembered hugging her mother and then getting into the tiny space pod, being sent away forever. She remembered her planet – her _dead_ planet – and her dead parents and dead people, and she screamed.

She thought of Alex, and everything she had been forced to give up for her, and she thought of Lucy, who was soft and warm, with the most beautiful smile. Who was kind and brave and one of the most stubborn people Kara had ever met, but who was strong and determined and deserved so much more than she got.

She screamed as her heat vision overtook her, feeling it pulse stronger than ever before as her anger swirled through her, brought to the surface from where she had pushed it down, and Red Tornado blew up as the light blinded her.

Just like that it was over, and the silence was deafening.

 

Later, after they had all reconvened at the DEO, Kara disappeared down one of the hallways, mumbling about being back in a minute. Lucy watched her go before turning back to her father wrapping up with his men, preparing to leave. She stood at attention with the rest of them, waiting for permission before she fell into step with her father and began moving towards the exit.

“Well, this was almost a total failure,” he mused in disappointment, and she made a noncommittal noise. “We’ll have to do better with our next attempt.”

Lucy’s steps faltered at the words, and she stared at him with dismay when she realized what he meant. He was going to try again, try to find another method to kill Kryptonians.

“Dad,” Lucy’s voice cracked, “I know you believe you’re doing what’s right, but you’re not.” She stopped walking in the middle of the command center, not caring that she was now facing her father and his military alone. “Supergirl is _not_ our enemy. Didn’t she prove that today?”

“Come along, Lucy, don’t be ridiculous. It’s time to go, we have a flight to catch back to Metropolis.”

Lucy pressed her lips together to stop them from quivering, knowing without a doubt what she needed to do.

“No, Dad.”

He blinked at her slowly, and she suppressed a shiver. “I’m sorry, Major, what did you just say?”

“She’s fighting for the same things I am. We are on the same team,” she implored in a last ditch attempt to make him understand. He only watched her with a blank expression of distaste on his face, and Lucy knew she would never be able to make him see reason. “She’s not our enemy, Dad. And that’s why I’m staying.”

“What?”

“I’m staying here. I joined the military to help people, to try and make the world a better place. And now I know that the only way I can continue doing that is if I stay here.”

“You really believe this Supergirl can make this world a better place?” The sneer didn’t leave General Lane’s face, and Lucy inhaled sharply, holding herself as stiff as she could so she wouldn’t betray anything on her face.

“I believe that she already has.”

Lucy saw Kara standing half-tucked into one of the hallways that branched off from the command center, the bright Supergirl costume catching her eye from across the room. Watching her for a moment, Lucy closed her eyes and then looked back at her father.

“I’ll find my own way back to the city, Dad.” She took a deep breath and then looked him dead in the eye. “I quit. I’m resigning my commission.”

He fell silent and regarded her stonily. “I hope, one day, when you realize what a terrible mistake you’ve made, it won’t be too late.”

Her father walked off stiffly, and Lucy waited for him to disappear from view before hurrying over to Kara, wanting to get away from the curious eyes of the other agents.

Kara was watching her with concern and went willingly when Lucy urged her out of the command center. She’d washed the dirt off her face, but her costume was still covered in a layer of grime and sand from the desert.

“Hey,” Kara said, gently taking Lucy’s arm and leading her down the hallway. “Are you okay?”

Lucy nodded tiredly, letting herself lean into Kara. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Kara hummed and pressed her cheek against Lucy’s hair for a moment, shifting her arm to rub her hand up and down Lucy’s back.

They stayed quiet as they moved down the hallway, only the sound of their footsteps breaking the silence.

Eventually, Kara pulled them to a stop, gesturing towards a door. “This is Alex’s office,” Kara told Lucy, pushing the door open to let her in first. “She’s still being debriefed, but she won’t mind if we camp out in here.”

The office was small, but not uncomfortable. There was a cluttered desk pushed against the wall and multiple shelves and filing cabinets around, with a worn couch in the middle. Relieved, Lucy headed straight for it, eager to get off her feet.

Plopping down, she exhaled and leaned her elbows on her knees, bringing up her hands to rub her temples. Kara sat down quietly beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders and urging Lucy lean on her. Lucy shuffled closer, resting her head against Kara’s for a long moment before slowly sitting up again.

“Well that wasn’t quite the plan,” Lucy stated tiredly, taking off her hat and groaning as she stretched out her neck. She put the hat down on the empty couch cushion next to her and reached back to take her hair out of its tight bun, but Kara gently batted her hands away.

“Here, I got it,” she told her softly, getting to work on pulling out the bobby pins one by one without snagging her hair.

Lucy groaned again as the tension was slowly released on her scalp, sighing when her hair was finally loose.

“Are you doing okay?” Lucy asked suddenly, remembering exactly what had just happened outside. Lucy had never seen such a display of raw power, from Kara or any other superhero, and she didn’t know if she needed to be concerned about the effect it would have on Kara.

“Yeah,” Kara’s fingers didn’t pause in running gently through Lucy’s hair, “Yeah, I’m good. Just tired. Are _you_ okay?”

Lucy was taken aback at the turnaround. “Yeah, yeah, I’m – oh god, I just told off my dad, didn’t I.”

Kara nodded sympathetically, rubbing her back, and Lucy cleared her throat and gave Kara a shaky smile, blinking her eyes until they were clear. “Could I maybe stay with you for a bit?”

Kara’s smile was blinding. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Sure you won’t get sick of me?” Lucy asked, only half-kidding.

“Never! This is great!” She hesitated and furrowed her brow, giving Lucy a sidelong glance. “Like the roommates part, not the – the, well, you know.”

Lucy sighed in relief. “Thank you, Kara, I really appreciate it.”

“Oh wait,” Kara sat up straight, suddenly remembering, “I only have one bed.”

Lucy shrugged, unconcerned, “We’ve shared a bed tons of times. Unless it makes you uncomfortable? I’m good with your couch. Trust me, I’ve slept in worse places.”

“No, it’s fine, I totally don’t mind. But seriously, are you okay about your dad?”

“He’s my dad, Kara. I can’t condone the things he wants to do, but he’s my dad.”

Kara nodded, staying silent but leaning her head against Lucy’s in a silent offering of comfort. They stayed like that for several minutes until Kara let out a dramatic sigh and flopped down so she was lying on her back, head propped up on Lucy’s leg.

“Are you hungry? An agent always goes for a takeout run around this time, I’m sure Vasquez can get our orders in.” Kara pulled her phone out of her boot, already opening her messages.

“Food! Oh, I’m so glad your priorities are always in the right place.” Lucy laughed and let herself fall against the back of the couch, dropping her head back and getting comfortable. “Do you want to change out of your suit?”

“Yes, right. Okay.” Kara didn’t move from her position of being sprawled out on the couch. “I will… I will get up and do that. In a minute.”

Lucy hummed her amusement and started running her hands through Kara’s loose strands of hair, content to stay here as long as she wanted.

 

“Director Henshaw,” General Lane was standing at one of the entrances to the command center, holding his hat under his arm.

“General Lane,” Hank greeted him warily, wondering if he was here with another threat.

“I would like to speak with Supergirl one more time before I leave the city. I was wondering if you could reach out and see if she’d be willing to meet me?” His voice was surprisingly courteous, the words careful and controlled.

Hank nodded and picked up the nearest tablet, tapping at the screen and pretending to connect a call before reaching up and touching the comm in his ear to activate it. He knew full well that Supergirl was still on base, as Agent Danvers was in the middle of being debriefed and Supergirl wouldn’t leave without her, not after a day like they’d had.

_“Director Henshaw?”_

“Supergirl, General Lane is currently standing in my office, requesting to speak to you. Are you still in the area, or shall I tell him to leave a message? The choice is entirely yours.”

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line and the murmur of another voice before an answer came, _“No it’s alright, I’ll talk to him. Be right there.”_

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” He closed the call and turned back to General Lane. “She’s agreed. She’ll be here soon.”

Setting the tablet down, Hank crossed his arms and ambled closer to the other man, intentionally using his height to crowd him against the doorframe. “This is nothing more than a courtesy on our parts,” he began lowly, “and you will give Supergirl not only the respect she deserves, but the respect that she has earned today.”

General Lane held his gaze before finally inclining his head in the barest minimum of a nod. “Of course.” Hank gave him one last look before stepping away.

“Director Henshaw,” Supergirl announced her presence, appearing on the other side of the open doorway. He nodded to her, looking back one more time at General Lane before letting them have the office.

“Superigirl,” General Lane started, straightening his jacket and taking a step towards the center of the room. “I’m sure you’re no more enthused about this than I am, so I’ll cut to the chase.”

“Go ahead,” Supergirl swept her hand towards him, lifting her chin, and General Lane leveled a glare at her.

“Do not presume that since you have Lucy on your side I will let you and the DEO continue on with whatever you want.” He narrowed his eyes, adjusting his grip on his hat. “Now, my daughter may be blinded by whatever it is you’ve done, but she is my daughter.” He turned away from her and began to pace the length of Hank’s office, the first and only sign of nerves Kara had seen from him.

“She’s choosing to stay here and stand by your side, all over some foolish ideal that you can make this world a better place. But I cannot leave in good conscience until I know that, in return, the least you will do is stand by hers.”

“I promise you, I will do everything in my power to ensure that she remains unharmed. I’ll protect her, General, I take care of the people I care about.”

“Alright then.” He nodded curtly at her words and turned to leave, and Kara let him go.

 

She detoured to pick up their takeout order on the way back to Alex’s office, smiling gratefully at Vasquez before hurrying down the hallway. Lucy sat up as soon as she opened the door, arms out to receive the bags and then helping arrange them on the small table in front of them, breaking them open and splitting the food.

“So what did he want?”

“I think it was a threat, sort of, but also – a request?”

Lucy made a face as Kara talked with her cheeks full of food.

“For all of his faults, he does care about you. It might be in his own way, but he cares, Lucy.”

“Well, sometimes that just isn’t enough,” Lucy muttered, stuffing a forkful of food into her mouth, and Kara nodded sympathetically, eating in silence.

When they were done, Kara stretched out with a groan, putting her empty takeout box on the table and flopping back onto the couch with her arms spread. “I’m tired. What time is it?”

Lucy checked her watch. “It’s barely 3 pm.”

Kara groaned again and closed her eyes, shifting to pull her cape out from underneath her and hang it over the arm of the couch. “Come take a nap with me,” she said, gesturing at Lucy to come closer, “Alex’s debriefing is going well, but it sounds like it’s going to take a while.”

Lucy hesitated, and Kara cracked her eyes open again to see Lucy tugging reluctantly tugging at the stiff cuff of her sleeve.

“Do you want to change out of your uniform? I have some clothes stored in Alex’s filing cabinet.”

Lucy thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “I guess I did just quit, right?” She patted Kara on the leg and stood up, moving around the couch and wandering towards the filing cabinet Kara waved her to. In the bottom drawer there was a sports bag stuffed full of brightly-colored clothes, business and casual alike, and Lucy pulled it out to sort through them.

The door was closed and Kara was drowsing on the couch, so Lucy quickly changed out of her uniform, slipping into a thin hooded sweatshirt and a pair of gym shorts, not even bothering to look at any of the pants made for someone much taller than her. The sleeves trailed over her hands, and she swung her arms a little, amused. She draped her uniform over a chair and then went back to the couch, leaning over and flopping the dangling sleeves in Kara’s face.

Kara grumbled and cracked her eyes open again.

“You’re too tall,” Lucy informed her, waving her arms with the trailing sleeves one more time.

“You’re just a little bit small,” Kara mumbled, and before Lucy could react, she darted out an arm and wrapped it around Lucy’s waist, yanking her down onto the couch. Lucy yelped as she tipped over, landing so she was pressed flush against Kara, and she tried to stop herself from blushing by smacking a sleeve into her face.

“Rude,” she told her, and Kara only laughed as she got comfortable. Lucy smiled, settling easily against her, and they both fell asleep within minutes.

 

Some time later, Lucy woke to the click of a door closing, blinking blearily and relaxing when she saw Alex.

“Hey,” Alex greeted softly, giving her a tired smile, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay. How are you?” Lucy rubbed her eyes, drowsily debating if she should sit up, realizing she was still stretched out on top of Kara’s body.

“I’ll be fine, nothing a couple of ice packs won’t fix.”

Lucy nodded and shifted slightly, looking up to see Kara still sleeping peacefully.

“Careful there,” Alex warned quietly, stumbling towards her desk, “She’ll wake up if she thinks she hears one of us sound like we’re in trouble.”

Alex cursed as she stubbed her toe on the corner of her desk, then flinched and pressed a hand to her side, grunting in pain. Kara immediately reacted, shifting on the couch before lifting her head and scanning the room, and Alex froze, sighing. “Like that,” she said in resignation, giving Kara the same apologetic smile she had given Lucy. “Hey, sis.”

“Hey,” Kara greeted softly, wrapping both arms around Lucy and then sitting up, bringing Lucy with her. “How are you?”

Alex rolled her eyes. “It’s just some bruises, I’ll be fine.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Lucy looked between the two of them, confused about what they were referring too, but Alex had averted her gaze to the side, focusing on digging through her bag instead.

“You guys ready to head out? Lucy, I assume you’re staying with Kara?”

Lucy nodded. “I should go get my stuff out of my hotel room, I guess.”

“Here, I’ll take you on the way,” Alex said, standing and swinging on her jacket, only wincing at the motion once. Kara squinted at her, and Lucy knew she was x-raying her for injuries.

“Kara, stop it,” Alex said in exasperation, moving over to pull them both off the couch, “I’m fine, medical already checked me out. Now let’s go, I’m dying for a shower. You wanna fly or do you want to come in the car with me and Lucy?”

“I’ll fly,” Kara said as she stood, releasing Lucy once they were both steady on their feet. “Got some stuff to take care of while you help Lucy get her things.”

“What stuff is that?” Alex asked, but all Kara did was shoot them both a grin and disappear in a gust of wind.

 

 

 

Alex didn’t know how Kara had done it, but by the time they made it to her apartment she had pulled together some kind of mini welcome Lucy party, with snacks and music and James and Winn on the way. Lucy was greeted with a cheer, and the atmosphere for the rest of the night was light and laughter filled.

As they were winding down, all clearly worn out from their long day, Alex noticed Lucy had hidden herself away in Kara’s bedroom. She looked very lonely all of a sudden, sitting in the corner by herself, and Alex couldn’t let that continue. Making her way over, she snagged a bowl of chips off the table and dropped onto the seat next to her.

“Hey, something wrong?”

Lucy startled at the words, staring up at her with wide eyes before shaking her head. “Nah, just, you know, feeling sorry for myself. It’ll go away,” Lucy waved a hand dismissively.

Alex only raised an eyebrow, and Lucy sighed.

“I knew my dad was wrong about some things, but I thought maybe I could understand him better, see why he felt the way he did. Maybe I could… convince him? I don’t know, show him… show him I could be good too. I tried to go along with him, and maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do. I mean, Lois certainly didn’t think so.” She went quiet at the mention of Lois, and Alex waited patiently, chewing quietly on the chips.

“My dad pushed Lois away. Just kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and then one day… she left. Stood up and told him she’d had enough, and left.

“And even then, when it was just me and him, I still wasn’t the golden child. Lois was still his favorite, even after everything. I was second best, basically since the day I was born. The first time I ever felt like I wasn’t the second choice was when I met you guys, actually.” She gave Alex a half smile, huffing a laugh when Alex bumped her with her shoulder.

“And I got past all of that, a long time ago. I mean, I know I’m better than the way he makes me feel, I do. I don’t regret staying with Kara, or you, or any of this really. I just… I don’t know, need some time for this feeling to go away.”

“Well,” Alex said, her lips twisting wryly, “If you’re looking for someone to understand, you are definitely talking to the right person. Danvers family disappointment, right here.”

And Lucy was a _lawyer_ , a major in the goddamn military, but her feelings welled up as she remembered all the times Alex had watched after her, protected her and cared for her, how _good_ she was, and the words wouldn’t come.

Over Lucy’s shoulder, Alex saw Kara suddenly look around and give them a concerned look. Inwardly Alex winced, but she knew right now Kara coming over wouldn’t help Lucy.

Alex quickly shook her head and waved her hand to tell Kara not to come over, shifting in her seat and offering Lucy the bowl of chips again to cover up the movement. Unsure, Kara angled her head in question, and Alex nodded minutely, squinting her eyes and tossing her head slightly. After a moment, Kara nodded and turned back to Winn and James.

“You, a disappointment? Oh please, when have you ever done anything except go above and beyond no matter what you try?”

Alex inclined her head and looked at Lucy meaningfully, snapping and pointing finger guns at her with her empty hand. “Exactly the same to you.”

The words seemed to stump Lucy, and she fell silent for a moment before opening her mouth to speak again.

“Ah, ah, no,” Alex held up a hand, “We’ve both had our moments of wallowing, now we… we eat chips, and we celebrate you moving to National City. Come on Lucy,” the side of Alex’s mouth quirked up into a smile as she threw an arm around Lucy’s shoulders. “Screw your dad. We’re your family. Ohana and all that.”

Lucy laughed, relaxing into her side, and as she leaned back her eyes caught on the pictures Kara had strung up on the wall.

Noticing her interest, Alex stood and walked towards them. “She keeps all the ones that she counts as important, you know,” Alex told her, indicating an open box sitting on the corner of her dresser. Lucy raised a questioning eyebrow, and Alex motioned for her to look at it.

Standing and taking a tentative step closer, Lucy peered down to see neat stacks of photographs, the top ones showing some with Kara with Alex, and some with Winn and James.

“Lucy, it’s okay. She’ll let anyone who shows half an interest see those pictures, she loves them.”

Knowing Alex wouldn’t lie about something like that, Lucy finally lifted a stack out of the box and started working her way through them properly. The photographs got older as she went deeper into the pile, and her eyes softened as she realized which photographs were in here. She was in most of them, a solid number from the time when she had lived in Midvale, and she ran her fingers reverently over the photographs as she went through them one by one.

Alex’s voice distracted her from her reverie. “You’re good for her. Calming.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows. “Calming? You did see what happened last time we went running, right? And…” She leaned forward to rifle through the stack of pictures they’d just seen, pulling one out and showing it to Alex. “I know I said it wasn’t my fault, but I’m pretty sure it was.”

Alex laughed. “Well, that too. You were both little shits. Still kinda are, I’m not gonna lie.” She knocked her playfully in the arm. “But it’s true. She can get… twitchy, sometimes. You help soothe that, calm her down, and sometimes she needs that.”

“She has you.”

Alex gave her a lopsided smile. “And she has you too.”

 

By the time the others had left and Kara had speed-cleaned her apartment, she was mostly overtired and Lucy was half asleep, already mumbling into Kara’s pillow.

Kara laughed quietly as she got into bed next to her, instinctively running her fingers through her hair.

“Mmmm.” Lucy curled closer, her fingers flexing where they were twisted in the loose material of Kara’s pyjama top.

“Lucy?” Kara looked down, her fingers carding through the hair at the base of Lucy’s neck.

Instead of answering the question, Lucy only shifted closer, snuggling in. “You’re really warm,” she mumbled, giggling drowsily. Kara smiled affectionately and pulled her closer, closing her eyes and listening to the steady beat of her heart.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered into her hair, and Lucy only hummed in response, asleep within seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I partially rewrite it like this just so Alex wouldn’t go talk to Maxwell Lord about Red Tornado? Yes. Guess what Lucy’s smart and has inside knowledge, no one needs the douchelord for information.


End file.
